Brothers
by redwingedatheart
Summary: Tim has a little brother and that means moving to New York City. Moving to New York City means meeting the Avengers, particularly Spider-Man
1. Chapter 1

Closing the door behind him, Tim went into his room to find his cell phone somewhere in the mess. The movers were almost done packing everything into their truck, but Tim had them go on a break as he got some of the more personal things from around his apartment.

Nonetheless, Tim was ready as he made his way into the now barren bedroom to make a call. Dialing the number he had memorized a thousand times over, Tim dropped onto the only piece of furniture in the room, his bed, and sighed hoping that things went in his way.

He stared at the digits and thought over the conversation in his head. This would have been easier if he had any idea who would pick up the phone from the other end, or even if anyone was home to take the call. Tim threw caution to the wind and pushed the green icon and listened as the steady dial tone mimicked the beating of his heart. After a few seconds, Tim heard Alfred's soft voice break through, "Wayne Manor. This is Alfred speaking. How may I help you?"

Smiling up at Ms. Fortune for making this a little easier for him, Tim responded with a soft voice, "Hey Alfred, it's Tim."

On the other side of town Alfred pulled out a seat and sat down, wanting to put his full focus into the conversation. "Master Timothy. It's been weeks since I've heard your voice." Momentary excitement receding, Alfred wondered out loud, "I hope you're not calling with bad news."

Shaking his head even though he knew Alfred couldn't see him, Tim assured him, "No. It's just...I need to if it would be okay if I dropped by later today."

Troubled that someone was his grandson would feel the need to make something as formal as a reservation to see his family. "You don't have to call beforehand, Master Tim. I'm sure Master Bruce would be pleased to see you regardless."

"Yeah I know, Alfred. I just wanted to be sure that I didn't catch you guys at a bad time." No matter how much it might hurt Alfred, Tim wanted to make absolutely sure that he didn't do anything that might come off as rude or ill mannered. His parents didn't raise him much, but they did teach him better than that.

"Timothy, are you asking to make an appointment to see family?"

Tim got up so he could run a hand through his hair and make sure he worded things perfectly enough so that he didn't give too much away. "Yeah sort of. There's just some stuff I need to finish up on. I also need to see Bruce as soon as I can, but it's not going to take more than a few minutes, half an hour at most depending on the details. All in all, I should be in and out within two hours."

Going through the schedule that he had memorized in his head, Alfred told him, "If you can come by today Master Bruce will be free before dinner."

Breathing out a sigh of release, Tim offered, "Great. I can come by around 4 and be out before dinner starts."

Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to have Tim spend even more time with the others, Alfred tried to sweeten up the deal. "Master Tim, you can come and eat dinner with the family. It's been ages since I've seen you've eaten at the Manor."

"Alfred..." This really was going to be one of those days.

"I must insist, Master Tim. It's been too long."

"I'm sorry Alfred, it's just that I'm going to be a little busy later today so I can't stay for dinner." That wasn't the whole truth, if he wanted he could push the meeting until tomorrow or next week or next month, but he wanted to be home and alone as soon as possible. Maybe in a few years he'd tell Alfred about it.

Not wanting to push too hard, Alfred conceded, "I understand, Master Tim. I will be great to see you regardless."

"You too, Alfred. I'll see you at 4."

Tim dropped the phone on his bed and immediately got to work making a plan that would get him in and out of the Manor as soon as possible. It hurt that at this point Tim wasn't able to just walk in and out of the house as he had done so many times in the past, but it was what it was and Tim knew he had to accept it.

* * *

No more than an hour later Tim was making his way up the steps to the gothic building and he tried to think about whether or not it would be better for him to knock or walk in unannounced. There were virtues to both, by walking in he would come off as more confident and he could to work faster, maybe even make it through the trip without talking to anyone he didn't have to, but by knocking he wouldn't be impeding or come off as rude. The choice was taken out of his hands as the door opened before him and Alfred welcomed him in.

Before he could say anything, Alfred threw his arms around him and breathed out, "It's been far too long, Master Tim."

Returning the hug and patting him on the back, Tim insisted, "I know, Alfred, I know. I've missed you to."

Pulling away from the embrace to put his hands on Tim's shoulder and looking him in the eye, Alfred asked, "Now, what is it that you wanted to do?"

Moving aside so that Alfred could see the empty boxes in his car, Tim explained, "I left a couple of things here before I moved out and I just needed to grab them."

Sighing, Alfred asked, "Is it really necessary, Master Tim? Wouldn't it be easier to move back? I absolutely don't have any reservations on the matter."

Giving the old butler a sad smiled, Tim said, "It's probably been too long, Alfred, and I don't really think the others need me here anymore."

Taken aback, Alfred tried to argue with Tim but couldn't come up with anything quick enough.

Tim gave him an understanding look before making his way to his old room. Passing through the hall he could hear whispers and laughter coming from Dick's room, but he decided it would be best if he just went about his business as quickly as possible. In any case, there wasn't much he had to say to Dick. Not now, maybe a few years ago, maybe a few months ago, but not now. Maybe not ever again.

Opening the door, Tim found his room completely unchanged in the months he had been away.

He sat on his bed for a moment before thinking about the time he had spent in these walls. He had moved in immediately after his mother's death and he could remember lying in bed in tears and Dick coming by to visit and comfort him. There had been nights where Bruce would come in to comfort him from a particularly harsh patrol or one of the many times someone close to him died but that was a long time ago and reminiscing on the past wouldn't do him any good.

Glancing at his phone and realizing he had spent half an hour doing nothing, Tim began going through his things. He had taken all of the essentials to his apartment, but there were still some things he wanted to bring back. Digging through his closet he found some of the shirts he wasn't allowed to wear in public anymore and was pleasantly surprised to find that they still fit him. There was also one sweatshirt that Dick had loaned to him over a year ago, Tim had worn it out in the many times he had needed support and Dick was too far away to help, but Tim left it on his bed in case Dick decided he wanted it back.

Two cardboard boxes were all he needed and he dropped them down beside the front door before going into the kitchen to find Alfred preparing dinner.

Peeking over his shoulder to see what he was making, Tim informed him, "I got everything I needed from my room."

Turning down the stove so that he could give Tim his full attention, Alfred asked, "Are you sure you don't need anything else, Master Timothy?"

Unsure of how it would sound but certain of the fact that Alfred wouldn't judge him, Tim asked, "Do you by any chance remember where you put my baby stuff?" When Alfred turned back to look at him confused, he explained, "You know after I moved in and everything, I was wondering where my old stuff is?"

Thinking for a moment about where he could have placed them, Alfred said, "It's in the attic, Master Tim, but is it really necessary that you take those out?"

"I really need them, Alfred." He knew that it would be enough for Alfred, enough that he would be able to look beyond the lack of explanation and do anything Tim needed him to.

Alfred gave him a weak nod before offering, "Okay, Master Tim. I trust that you know what's best for you. While you talk with Master Bruce I will load your things in the car."

Tim made his way to Bruce's office and knocked on the oak door. When he heard a noise, he walked in and found Bruce signing documents on his desk. He sat down in an empty seat until Bruce was ready to put his attention on him.

After a few minutes Bruce put the papers on the side and asked, "What do you need, Tim? Alfred told me he thought it was important from how you sounded on the phone."

Looking uncomfortable explaining it in front his watchful eye, Tim rushed out, "I just need you to sign some papers."

Knowing Tim was purposefully avoiding giving over too many details, Bruce was ready to interrogate him as much as he needed. "What are the papers about?"

Tim bit his lip before explaining, "They are my resignation as CEO from Wayne Enterprises. I've already signed over all of my shares to you, but this is for the power of CEO and I left the successor's information blank so you can give it over to whoever you want."

Bruce gave him a confused look for a moment before turning back at the papers and finding the areas highlighted for him to sign. He pretended he didn't notice the relieved sigh that Tim let out as soon as his pen touched the paper. Handing the packet back to him, Bruce couldn't help but feel like he'd made a massive mistake but didn't feel it to be his place to question Tim's decision. If this is what he felt like doing it wasn't his place to question it.

Rushing downstairs, Tim found Alfred looking through some of his childhood mementoes in the foyer. There was a serene smile on his face when he on his face when he found an album with pictures of Tim growing up. Tim didn't want to ruin the moment by telling him that the pictures had been taken by babysitters and they stopped soon after he began to take care of himself.

When he noticed that Tim was waiting for him, Alfred put the album back in its place and helped him load the boxes in the car. When everything was said and done, he took the boys in his arms and said, "You can stop by whenever you want, Master Tim. Please don't be a stranger."

Tim laughed at the prospect and returned the embrace, "I'm sure I could never stay away from you for too long, Alfred."

Tim wondered if Alfred could tell that he was lying, but watching the butler light up at the promise he couldn't help but feel like Alfred deserved the moment. He deserved to think, if only for a moment, that this wasn't a big deal.

With a quick wave goodbye, Tim drove out of the driveway and back to his apartment where a moving van would be coming in a few hours. He dropped off the paperwork at his lawyer's office and took a copy home for himself. He debated whether or not to send one to Bruce, but he didn't seem to care that Tim had just signed over his position in the company with no explanation so he must not need the papers.

Looking around his apartment to see his home empty as his room, Tim sighed against his door and thought about what he was doing. This was his last chance to turn everything around, to pretend that nothing had happened, but looking at the picture on his phone Tim knew he had made the right choice.

* * *

Once the last of the trucks had pulled out, Tim went out to his balcony and waited for his next meeting. He wanted to pull out a drink, but this was going to be the first time Tim was meeting him and he wanted it to be perfect. He had taken out some of his old things, car seats and cloths he hadn't been able to donate or throw away, and set them out so that he could make things as perfect as possible.

It didn't take long for him to hear feet touch down on his roof and someone drop down beside him. Tim spun around and immediately focused on the bundle in Ra's arms. He could see that the baby was sleeping soundly even though Ra's cloak hide most of him away. Although he didn't like it, Tim flinched at the way he was so comfortable in the arms of someone so horrible as Ra's but he knew it wouldn't do him any good to comment on it.

Breaking the silence between the, Ra's greeted him with, "Timothy."

Tim still refused to look at him and only returned a soft, "Ra's."

Moving his arm to the side so that Tim could a better look at the boy, Ra's explained, "I hope you understand that this my way of asking for your forgiveness. You would be a great asset in any battle and hopefully he can clear up some of the mistrust between us."

Not taking his eye off of the sleeping boy, Tim asked, "How old is he now?"

"He's almost a year old." Pulling out a folder of papers, Ra's offered, "I took the liberty of forging the proper paperwork you would need."

Tim ignored the outreaching hand and asked, "Can...Can I hold him?"

Ra's held him out and commented, "He is your brother, Timothy, and from now on you can do with him anything you wish."

Nodding along, Tim took him into his arms and brought him into the warmth of his apartment. As soon as he touched him he felt afraid of doing something wrong, holding him the wrong way or squeezing him too tightly, but he tried to assure himself he would be fine. Tim pretended to not notice that Ra's followed him in and sat down on the stairs to take a close look at his little brother. There weren't any chairs or couches in the apartment anymore, so the stairs were all they had.

Looking around, Ra's acted as if he hadn't known all along that Tim was beginning to move and asked, "Where are all your things, Timothy? I hope you haven't been robbed."

Still unable to take his eyes off of the baby in his arms, Tim bluntly answered, "No, I'm just moving and I didn't want you to see my new apartment."

Ignoring the harsh tone, Ra's offered his own support. "Is there anything you need, Timothy? Anything I could help with?" Although he would never admit it, even under threat of death, Ra's had grown a small but resilient attachment to the small boy and could already see the many ways he would be growing into a fine young man.

For the first time that night, Tim looked up away from him and gave him a soft smile. "No I don't need your help, Ra's, but...I really do appreciate what you did. I know you didn't have to and even though you only did it so that I would owe you, but I can't really care now that he's here."

Old enough to know what Tim was feeling, Ra's guaranteed him, "You are going to be a marvelous brother, Timothy."

Balancing the baby on his lap and moving the blanket out of his face, Tim ran a soft hand through the soft hair only just beginning to grow. "I always wanted to be. Having someone like Dick in my life, even though it wasn't for long, having someone to look up to...it just makes the hard parts of life just a little bit easier."

Knowing it was a touchy subject, Ra's pivoted to another question. "Have you picked out a name yet?"

He had. He had thought about it a lot and knew it was an important part of anyone's life and as such a name should be taken on with much consideration. Even then he couldn't deny the fact that someone else had strong feelings on the matter and it just so happened that their opinions aligned. "Dana, my stepmother, wanted to name him 'Thomas' and I think it suits him."

"A powerful name."

Unsure of whether or not to ask the question aside, Tim felt that the day had gone in his favor so far and that the tide wouldn't change now. "What did you do to Dana? After you saved him, what happened to her?"

He had been expecting this for a while and told him as honestly as possible, "I had some people retrieve her body and bring it to the pit. There we removed the child, Thomas, from her womb and revived him in the pit. I opted out of doing the same with her considering the effects it would have on her."

Accepting that this was the best he could have hoped for, Tim asked, "What about Tommy? Is he okay?"

"I had some of my finest men look him over and it doesn't look like he's experiencing any of the regular side effects of going into the lazarus pit and that might be because he wasn't brought back to life, he was born in the pit. I am not sure how you feel on the matter, but I also had a paternity test conducted and it concluded that the child is your biological brother."

Giving him a soft laugh, Tim responded, "I don't think I care very much about the biology anymore. He's my little brother." Curious, both as to how it related to his brother and in general, Tim looked up at Ra's and wondered out loud, "Do you know if there's been anything like this in the past, any other babies brought to life in the pit?"

Not ready to fail now, Ra's thought back and answered, "There is one story, not a very significant one and the validity of it is questionable, but there is a story about one of my ancestors losing a daughter. She was stillborn, and he revived her in the pit. I can keep you informed if I learn anything new, but I am not aware as to whether or not she experienced any last effects."

Getting up and setting Thomas up in his old car seat, Tim looked back at Ra's and noted, "I never told you where I'm moving to."

"It's not like I can't find it anyway."

Covering Tommy in another blanket to hide him away from the hard winter cold, Tim stood up and sincerely responded, "Goodbye, Ra's, and thank you."

"It was no problem, Timothy."


	2. Chapter 2

Shifting Tommy in his arms as he got into the empty elevator, Tim pressed the button for the top floor and began waiting. The apartment building was one of the best in the city and the two of them would be sharing a beautiful view of Central Park on one side and metropolitan New York City on the other.

Tim hoped the movers had been able to get in the apartment and drop their stuff off without any trouble considering the first thing he wanted to do was collapse in bed without any worries.

Tom groaned slightly as the elevator began speeding up and Tim had to bounce him on his hip to distract the almost one year old from the ear popping that might come with being that high off the ground. It didn't work as well as Tim might have liked, but as soon as the door opened Tom was entranced enough with the new environment before him to forget about his previous uncomfortableness. He struggled out of Tim's arms and began stumbling around the apartment as they stepped out of the elevator and onto the marble floors while Tim hoped the popping would go away soon enough for it not to be a problem.

The apartment looked just as it had online, large open windows showing the view of the city and park, an up to date kitchen that would have made Alfred pretty happy, and enough room for Tim and Tommy many times over.

The movers had dropped off the furniture and boxes in what was to become the living room and just seeing all the work he would have to do made Tim feel even more tired. It had been a long drive from Gotham, them only stopping a few times to change Tom's diaper, to get something to eat, and to buy some groceries for their dinner, and right now Tim would settle for crashing on the dirty couch if it meant he could close his eyes. It was what he wanted to do, but he couldn't just leave Tom to fend for himself in the mess of boxes, furniture, and anything else Tim hadn't packed away properly enough to keep him from reaching in and finding something dangerous.

Once he realized he didn't have the time to actually set up the apartment before making the trip over, Tim had decided to use every millionaire's best hand and paid someone else to do it for him. Even then, there was a limit to how much he was willing to reassign to someone else and he left some of the more important tasks for him to do once he made it to the city. First thing was to get all of the food into the kitchen and set up Tom's nursery.

It didn't really take that long, Tim was pretty sure Tom didn't care that much about how his room looked when he was still so young, and once he had all of his things moved into his room there wasn't a lot to do. By the time it reached three o'clock Tim was pretty much finished with everything he needed to do and began cleaning up the debris from the boxes. On the other side of the room Tom was trying to stick as much of the thrown away tape onto himself before Tim noticed and cleaned him up.

Warming up a bottle of milk for Tom and some ramen for himself, Tim looked over to his brother as he played with some of the forks and said, "You know Tommy, I think a nap is in order."

In a move that reminded him just how ironic the world really was, as soon as Tim's head fell on the pillow the buzzer from the front door began ringing throughout the apartment. Not bothering to put on shoes, Tim rushed to the front door wanting to be back in bed as soon as possible.

On the other side of the door Tim found a professionally dressed women with a briefcase. Slowly he asked, "Can I help you with something?" Tim hoped he didn't coming off rude, but he also wasn't too concerned with how he looked when he could be sleeping instead.

With an outreaching hand the woman greeted, "Hello. My name is Kat Benshaw and I work with the Social Services office." Reading the name off the label on the file, she asked, "Are you Timothy Drake-Wayne?"

"It's just Drake now, but you have the right person." Growing concerned as to why she could possibly be here, she asked, "Is something wrong?" He had only been in New York for a few hours and there was very little he could imagine he had done wrong.

"I'm afraid so, Mr. Drake. There's some things that need to be taken care of," she said solemnly. Tim tried to get a read on what she could have been referring too, but he ended up being to tired.

Instead he forced himself to wake up, Tim opened the door and offered, "Please come in." Maneuvering through the mess he had left, Tim motioned to a side of the kitchen and said, "We just moved in, but the table's right through here." Just as polite as ever, Tim asked, "Can I get you something to drink? Water? Soda? Coffee?"

"No thank you. I'm fine." Instead, she found some paperwork from her briefcase and laid it out on the table.

Tim grabbed some water for himself and asked, "What happened? Did something come up?" The last time he'd talked to someone from social services it had to do with him getting emancipated.

Taking a moment to collect her words, Kat started, "Mr. Drake I don't have to tell you that Gotham is a very particular city. Officials there are willing to look the other way on issues other cities take much more seriously."

Tim considered what she said before asking, "What does that have to do with me?"

"It has come to our knowledge that you have taken custody of your younger brother, Thomas."

"Yeah," Tim said stiffening up. "He's in another room sleeping right now."

Folding her hands, she admitted, "To be blunt, Mr. Drake, there are more than a few people who are...cautious of the situation. Your ability to look after your brother has been called into question."

"What? Why?" In the day he'd had his little brother he didn't think he'd messed up that much.

"You are still a minor, Mr. Drake. Emancipated or not, that is cause for some concern. On top of that you were under the custody of Bruce Wayne for only a few months before your aforementioned emancipation. You have not expressed any intentions to finish high school and your father and stepmother passed away within the past year. You have no family to go to for support and despite how much money you have, there are some people unsure of whether or not you are ready to raise a younger brother."

While Tim might not like to admit it, she did have a point. Not in the mood to debate the issue, Tim asked, "What does this mean? What should I do?"

"The best solution would be for you and your brother to return to the custody of Bruce Wayne."

Tim was quick to assure her, "That's not going to happen."

Kat hadn't been expecting the first option to work and she looked through the notes she had compiled beforehand. "An alternative would be for you to return to your schooling. The school year is starting in just over a month and that would leave you enough time to find a high school for yourself and daycare for your brother."

Compared to everything else he'd done, Tim didn't think going back to high school would be too bad. He'd missed a few weeks off the tail end of sophomore year, but he knew he could make it up over the summer. Preferring this to the first option, Tim answered, "Yeah, I can do that."

Taking a note down, Kate added, "There is going to be some monitoring of your situation, Mr. Drake. Every few months a social worker will come by to ensure everything is in order and gauge whether or not you can be entrusted with Thomas's care."

"What happens if it's not? Just out of curiosity, what would happen?" Tim didn't think there was too much he could get wrong, Bruce jumping into mind, but he knew to be prepared for anything.

There was no where she could say for sure, but Kat assumed, "The first option would be to return you to the care of Mr. Wayne, but if that can't happen you two will probably go into foster care. I can't say anything for certain as to what happens after that, but you two could be adopted by the same family, different families, or you age out of the system and try again for the custody of your brother."

Tim quickly made a promise to himself and outloud that, "It won't come to that. I'll start looking into schools and daycares immediately."

The meeting had gone easier than Kat expected, most people she came across were much more confrontational than Tim, but she still wanted to make sure there was no confusion. "I just want to reiterate that you are in a special position Mr. Drake. Your wealth and celebrity status means people are going to be looking for any reason to..."

Tim gave her a sincere look and assured her, "I understand. I'll take care of things."

* * *

Sitting in a secluded corner of Central Park, Tim watched Tom work with his airplane while he looked at schools online. Tim had always entertained the idea of finishing school, but he never imagined having to chose between so many options. Daycare had been much easier, him only needing to do extensive background checks on the employees and owners before narrowing down the list to a select few.

One bright side was the fact that he hadn't had to deal with the paparazzi since their moves. It might have to do with them not knowing he was in New York, them not knowing who he was, or them not caring, but whatever it was Tim supported it.

So far the only attention Tim and Tom had received was from a girl a few years older than him coming over to their blanket and joining Tom in piloting his airplanes. Her babysitter was quick to apologize for impeding on their personal space, but Tim assured her, "It really no problem. I think he enjoys the company to be honest."

"Is he your son?" May didn't think Tim looked old enough to be a father, but she wasn't really sure how kids got along at his age. From everything she could tell her nephew was the exception.

Laughing at the idea, Tim assured her, "No. Tommy is my little brother and I look after him. What about you two?"

"Casey is the daughter of my neighbor. Her parents both had to be working right now and they didn't have the time to find a babysitter and I had free time so I stepped in to help."

Give her a small smile, Tim formally introduced himself. "I'm Tim by the way and this is Tommy." Pointing up to his penthouse, he added, "We live right there."

"My name is May." Glancing down at his laptop and seeing some familiar names, she asked, "Are you looking at high schools?"

"Yeah I just moved here so I'm looking around at the different schools in the area." Tim wondered if it was possible to forget how to have an easy conversation with a stranger because he was sure he was sure he was making this a lot harder than it had to be.

"Do you have any ideas? My nephew Peter goes to school not too far from here. Midtown Manhattan Magnet and he can walk there everyday." May was usually good at reading people and from what she could tell Tim would be a good friend for Peter.

Tim actually had been looking into MMM and it was near the top of his list of preferred schools. "Thank you I'll look into it." Not wanting the conversation to end just yet, Tim asked, "What grade is your nephew in?"

"He's going to be starting his junior year this fall."

"Me too. I'm actually moving here from Gotham." The two didn't really have anything to do with each other, but he said it nonetheless.

"My husband and I went there a few times." Playfully scrunching up her nose, she added, "If you don't mind me saying, I prefer New York."

"Yeah Gotham takes some getting used to. Even then..."

Shaking her head, May joked, "It's too long to go without seeing any sun." Looking down at her phone, she said, "I should probably get back home. Casey's parents will be home soon and we shouldn't miss them."

Watching her dust off her clothes, Tim said, "It was nice to meet you, Ms. May."

"Hopefully it won't be our last time, Tim. I hope I get to see you around Peter's school."

With a small wave, Tim turned back to Tom and asked, "What do you think? Should we head back?"

Without the company, Tom stumbled over to Tims lap and began babbling some things Tim's didn't understand. Sighing, Tim decided it was getting late and began packing up their things. It really was a nice apartment, much more than nice, but Tim knew he was biased. He didn't really want to have to move again anytime soon, mostly because he wanted Tommy to think of this as home, and he could see living here for a while. Being on Park Avenue it meant the two of them would be able to spend their weekends and any extra time in Central Park and enjoy the view. Tim knew it was going to be the little things about New York, the nice old ladies, the sun, and the park, that made him the happiest.

The only problem he had was finding something to occupy his time. Usually he would be digging into a case or working on something for Wayne Enterprises, but now he only had Tom to keep him busy. Tim sometimes wondered if Ra's had anything to do with the way Tom was less inclined to act out compared to other kids Tim had been around or if his own personality had more to do with his father's side than he originally thought. In any case, he didn't have much to do outside of watching his little brother.

In the beginning, when Tim was still not used to the free time, he'd wake up a few hours before Tom and wait for him. Sometimes he'd mindlessly watch something, read something, play something, or just watch Tom until he woke up.

They'd eat breakfast together, Tim trying to gauge the things Tom liked and wondering just what Ra's gave him in Nanda Parbat, before going out to the park. Very quickly the apartment began to feel suffocating. Despite being larger than many people's homes, Tim was used to spending most of his free time jumping through rooftops and chasing criminals. A Park Avenue apartment didn't have anything nearly as close to give him.

Looking down at the city from his balcony, Tim wondered if anyone would notice him leaping up from top of his apartment at night. In the end of his mind he always knew he couldn't be a hero forever, but he still missed it. There was something to be said about the adrenaline one feels using a grappling hook to flying through a major metropolitan city while chasing villains with a slew of mental illnesses. Somewhere along the way he had fallen in love with the feeling and now couldn't imagine never feeling it again.

* * *

Tim felt inexplicably nervous walking into the daycare office. He had to bring Tom in for an interview with an administrator to see if he was well behaved enough for them to take him in. There were dozen of daycares nearby, but this was one of the few close enough to his apartment and school and with a faculty he trusted.

Right now they were sitting in the waiting room entertaining themselves with a few of the toys set out while waiting for their appointment. Every now and then Tom would call out something that sounded like a word and sometimes he would even be right, but Tim was still busy with worrying about everything going well.

He only turned his head up when he heard a woman's voice ask, "Thomas Drake?"

Tim stood up and turned Tommy's attention to the woman before taking his hand and guiding him. In the weeks Tim had had him, Tom would sometimes be difficult for no apparent reason so Tim was grateful when he gave in without a fight.

They were lead to a classroom, the walk taking a lot longer than it should have with Tommy getting distracted very easily, but he walked right in when he saw the colorful room with toys scattered around.

Their guide, Carly Garrison, pulled out a chair and noted, "I've seen your face somewhere, Mr. Drake, but I can't put a finger on it."

Tim smiled, didn't comment, and said, "You can call me Tim."

Taking a note of that, she asked, "Are you Thomas's father? If you don't mind me saying you look a little young."

"No. I'm his older brother." It was the second time someone had made that mistake, but it always made him laugh.

Looking over the paperwork she had been given, she said, "Everything seems to be in order and your brother seems pretty well behaved." She hadn't spent a lot of time around him, but she'd been in the business long enough to just know. "The only thing I'd like to see is how he gets along with other kids. It says here that you would be scheduled to begin daycare in September, but it would be good to have Tom come in a few days early to make the transition easier for him."

"That should be fine." Tim admitted, "He has a few friends from around our apartment building, but none that he spends hours with."

Nodding, she looked over the medical information and asked, "Any allergies?"

"Nope."

"Medical conditions."

"No ma'am."

"What about an emergency contact? You don't have anyone listed on the forms."

Tim had been hoping that wouldn't be a problem. There wasn't really anyone he could count on at this point, definitely not anyone in the city, but he knew there should be someone there just as a safety precaution. There really was only one name that made sense and he motioned for a pen before filling in the contact information for Alfred. Tim really hoped a situation wouldn't come up where they needed to call him because that would be one of the worst ways for Alfred to learn Tim had a little brother, someone Alfred would probably consider to be a grandson.

Looking back to Tom as he repeatedly stacked and then destroyed the towers he was building out of the blocks, Carly asked, "Does he have any behavioral problems?"

Tim had only been watching over him for a few weeks, but as far as he could tell, "No, there no real problem. Just the occasional tantrum, but that's more or less normal."

Carly nodded and asked, "Do you have any questions? We have all the information we need and your brother can start as soon as you're ready."

"Umm…do you take walk-ins? It really is just the both of us so someone has to look after him while I'm not able to." Tim didn't foresee having to drop him by on a minute's notice, but that wasn't any reason to not be prepared.

"Our policy is basically that the charges are higher for walk-ins than they are with scheduled ones but other than that it's okay. We also have a nightly service for families whose parents work night shifts, but again it's a higher fee."

Tim really hoped it never came to that, but he said, "Thank you for the help."

Tom did end up putting up a fight when they had to finally leave, this really was a room designed to keep kids happy, but it was close enough to his regular naps that he was all tired out. By the time Tim had him back in their apartment he didn't even need a bottle to begin dozing off.

They got home just in time for Tim to see a notification on his computer telling him he had an email. He didn't really have much to expect, he had a great spam filter and no reason for anyone from Gotham to contact him, so it peaked his curiosity enough for him to forgo putting Tommy in his crib just yet. It was an email from MMM informing him he had gotten in and could start classes in a month with the rest of the junior class.

Picking Tommy up before he could fall asleep on his lap, Tim excitedly told him, "Good news, Tommy. We got into the schools we needed to." The infant didn't give him any indication he had heard what he'd said, but lit up once Tim returned back with a bottle in his hand. "Even if you can't understand me, I know just what you want."


	3. Chapter 3

Even as he typed mindlessly at his laptop, making sure the security around the penthouse was up to date as he wouldn't have as much free time once school started, Tim couldn't help but glance out to through the window. He had an amazing view of the city, the New York skyline definitely outdid Gotham's in almost every way, and he could only imagine what it would be like to swing from building to building. Every now and then he could just barely make out a figure he assumed to be Spider-Man and it only made him more anxious to leap out from his balcony.

It was a groan from Tommy a few feet away that drew Tim back into the real world and he watched as his brother tried to stumble between the furniture. His grasp of walking was getting better, he was more or less able to follow Tim around the apartment and lead on the walks through the park, but at just over a year old he still needed to support himself on furniture every now and then.

Tim returned the smile Tom shone his way, but immediately thought back to Tom's daycare appointment a few hours before. Tom was getting along well with the other kids, starting to socialize as well as he could at his age, but Ms. Garrison did note he was somewhat quieter than the other kids. She'd stressed that it wasn't anything to worry about, but her suggestion to talk as much as possible to introduce his little brother to new words was something he took to heart.

Closing the laptop and leaving it on the couch, Tim announced, "It's time to take your bath little bro. We have a lot to get done tomorrow."

Tom fought a little as Tim dragged him away from his blocks, mumbled a noise Tim assumed to be frustration, but lit up as Tim placed him in a tub with his waterproof ducks. It hadn't taken Tim long to learn that they were the best way to keep him from crying in the bath, but it did also mean Tommy tried to stay in the bath as long as possible.

When the tub was had a few inches of water, Tim let Tom enjoy his duck as he worked some shampoo into his hair and explained, "You're getting a haircut tomorrow, Tommy. We both are, but I guess it's more special for you." He didn't know how Ra's kept Tommy's hair short, he might not have even needed a haircut being fresh out the pit, so Tim decided, "We'll just call this your first hair cut. It doesn't hurt at all, your hair is already dead any so you don't have any pain receptors there, but I know some kids are scared. You should know there's nothing at all to be scared of and you might even enjoy them later on.."

Tom didn't say anything in response, probably because he didn't know how and the duck was more interesting, so Tim settled for carefully washing the shampoo out of his hair and making sure none got in his eyes. Tim had only overlooked it once before he nkew not to make the mistake again or trust anything labeled 'tear free.'

When Tommy was finally settled into his crib, Tim left him with his bottle and turned his attention to cleaning up. Tomorrow was going to be their last day of summer break and Tim wanted to keep everything in order so he wouldn't have too much to focus on. The last thing he wanted to do was make more work for himself.

The appartment was already set up. Tim had a lot of free time without any work to do, even more once Tommy started daycare, and he was finished a few weeks after they'd moved in. Now his days mostly consisted of browsing the internet looking for anything interesting. In his more desperate moments he almost considered opening one of the textbooks just to have something to do while he was bored.

* * *

Deciding to sleep in on his last day of summer break, Tim was able to drown out the world until he heard his phone ring from under his pillow. His mind already hated just who would be ruining his last chance for a day in until he read Alfred's name. He cautiously pulled it up to his ear as he asked, "Hello?"

"Master Tim, I hope I'm not catching you at a bad time," Alfred said semi-honestly. It wasn't that he wanted to inconvenience Tim, but after months of not seeing or hearing from him he didn't care as much as he usually did.

"It's no problem," Tim said honestly. "I should have been up by now anyway. What's up? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, Master Tim. The reason I'm calling is that Gotham Academy sent your transcript to the Manor."

Confused, Tim asked, "Was there something wrong? What does it say?"

Taking a moment to read off the paper, Alfred answered, "They intended to send it to a school in New York. Midtown Manhattan Magnet." Although he had an answer in mind, Alfred asked sternly, "Do you know anything about this, Master Tim?"

Tim took a moment to come up with a passable lie, but he knew he couldn't get it past Alfred if his tone meant anything. Instead he explained, "They must have sent it to the wrong address, Alfred. GA probably still has the Manor on my file and I never changed it."

"Hmm," Alfred said disappointed with the useless answer. "I planned on giving it to you in person, but your apartment was empty. Someone informed me you'd moved out months ago."

"I-I'm sorry, Alfred," Tim stuttered knowing he'd been caught red handed. "I know I said that I'd keep in contact..."

"I'm assuming you've moved to New York. If you don't mind giving me the address I can bring the forms to you later today. I've been informed classes for your new school start tomorrow and we wouldn't want you falling behind." His tone spoke to how little room for argument he was willing to leave, but he knew Tim would try.

"You don't have to do that, Alfred," Tim said although he knew it would be useless. "I'm sure they sorted everything out considering they haven't said anything to me and I wouldn't want to put you through the trouble."

"Better safe than sorry, Master Tim."

"Then...I guess you could email me a scan," Tim offered. "It would take a lot less time."

Not wanting to let the opportunity go, Alfred bluntly stated, "I'm going to be coming over, Master Tim. It's already been months since I've seen you last and I know better than to let this kind of behavior slip by."

"Fine," Tim said slowly. "Do you need the address?"

"No thank you, Master Tim. This call shows me right where you are although I would need the apartment number."

Tim knew he should have expected as much from Alfred. "It's the penthouse, Alfred. I'll have the front desk buzz you up when you get here so you don't have any trouble."

"Thank you, Timothy. I'll only be a few hours."

"No problem, Alfie. It has been a while."

"Hmm," Alfred said in agreement. "I'll see you then, Master Tim."

"See you later, Alfie. Bye."

Ending the call, Tim made sure he didn't have anything urgent on his schedule. The hair stylist would be here soon and finished before Alfred showed up so there wasn't much else to do. A trip to a nearby store wouldn't hurt, Tommy needed new shoes as he was starting to outgrow his current ones, and it wouldn't hurt to get him a jacket. Tim had been hoping to spend most of the day in the park, they probably wouldn't see much of it once the school year started, but Alfred might be up for it as well. It was certainly a change of pace from the drug and crime infested parks in Gotham. The only other thing was to make sure M-cubed had his transcript, but that only took an email. Once that was sent, Tim went through his morning routine before going to check in on Tommy.

Hair still wet from the shower, Tim let his brother experiment with the wet strands as he reminded him, "We're getting a haircut today, Tommy. Tomorrow is going to your first full day of daycare and we want to make sure you look your best."

It was a struggle to get Tom to let go of his hair when it was time to eat, he even tried drinking the droplets, but soon enough Tim had him settled into his chair and focused on his food. Tim make extra food for Alfred in case he decided to stay long and focused on cleaning up while he had the time. It wasn't that the apartment was dirty, but Alfred's standards were very different from Tim's. It would be even more important once Alfred learned about Tommy.

"We're going to have some visitors today, Tommy. The first one is going to be a nice lady who's going to cut your hair. Just so you know, I know it can be a little scary the first time, but it doesn't hurt," Tim repeated as he made his way through his cereal. "After that an old friend of mine is coming over. He's going to drop off some papers and talk over some things. He doesn't know about you, nobody really does, so you have to make sure just as cute as you always are." He finished off with a quick kiss to Tom's hair before leaving to put the dishes away.

Tom tried to respond, but he could only make a few short spurts of noise before giving up to play with his shirt. Nevertheless Tim made sure to listen intently and answered, "You're right. I don't have any need to worry. You're going to be fine today with Alfred and you're going to be fine tomorrow at daycare."

When the dishes were done, Tim left Tommy in his room with his toys to make sure everything was settled for school. He still didn't have a response to his email, he didn't expect one so soon, but he focused on making sure he had all of books and supplies. Tim wasn't usually so worried about school, it came easily to him, but now he had so much free time he couldn't think of anything other than worrying. It was a special kind of intense.

By the time he was finished Tim still had half an hour to waste and decided Netflix was a good an option as any. He sat on the couch with Tommy mumbling to one of his toys until the a knock sounded off from the front door and Tim let the hair stylist in.

"This is Tommy's first haircut in a while so I don't know how he's going to take it," Tim warned after the introductions. "He's usually calm though."

Running her hand softly through Tommy's hair, Cameron noted, "It is pretty long and thick. He's going to have a full head of hair when he gets older." Turning back to Tim, she asked, "Does he pull at it a lot? I know some kids like to try and pull their out, especially when it's long and starts to bother them."

"Every now and then," Tim answered honestly, "but I can usually distract him into forgetting about it. I think after he pulled out a few strands he decided it wasn't worth it."

"Okay," Cameron said happy with the answer. "If you can pull out the chairs you'd like to sit in, we can get started. What kind of style would you like?" Examining him closely, she stated, "You'd look good in almost anything."

"Almost?" Tim asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wouldn't recommend a mohawk, but that's because you don't look like mohawk type and I hate mohawks."

Tim immediately flashed back to him at 13 and the kind of haircut he'd expect him to get right now. A mohawk would have been too tame for him. He reminded himself that he was grown now and said, "I guess it should be about medium length, long enough for me to run my fingers through, and messy. I'd need to do a lot less grooming if it's supposed to look disheveled."

"What about your brother?"

"Probably just a few centimeters I guess. Enough that they won't get into his eyes."

Tommy was the first one up and visibly grew cautious as he was forced into his chair. He craned his neck as far as he could to see what was happening and visibly hated it. His gaze moved from Cameron to the scissors to Tim silently asking for help.

Interpreting the look as duress, Tim sat down beside Tommy and reminded him, "Everything's going to be fine, Tommy. It doesn't hurt at all. You pulling at my hair hurts more." When it didn't help at all Time pulled out one of his toys to try and distract him while asking, "You want to tell me more about this little guy. You have a lot to say yesterday."

Tom took the figure into his hand before throwing it to the ground and trying to figure out what Cameron was doing behind him. He didn't like the way she was touching his hair and his instincts told him to be afraid the scissors in her hands. As soon as she got too close for his comfort he shrieked and tried to break out of the chair.

"Come on little guy. You'll be fine. I promise it doesn't hurt."

Cameron added, "You'll look a lot nicer after, Tommy. Don't you want to look nice for your daycare tomorrow?"

Tommy shrugged off their attempts at consoling him and grasped onto Tim's arm begging him to do something.

Tim knew they wouldn't be able to do much with Tommy frantically moving around in anguish and sighed, "I guess we should do me first. He might feel more comfortable if he sees it doesn't hurt."

"That could help," Cameron said in agreement.

Aghast, Tommy watched from his seat as Cameron began planning what to do. He didn't seem interested as she began spraying something into his hair and untangling it, but when pieces started to fall to the ground he was visibly concerned.

Tim and Cameron chuckled as he tried to say something to her. They couldn't tell what he was trying to say, but it was obvious he was angry.

"I don't think his mind has changed," Cameron said noted his fists. "He looks like he wants to attack me."

"I guess it'll have to wait," Tim said with a sigh. "He can keep his hair long for a few more days and we'll see how he does then."

Cameron was quick to calm his concerns. "It's nothing to worry about. A lot of kids are afraid of their first haircuts; it's pretty normal. Some still can't handle them for years. Tom will be fine."

They mostly stayed silent after that, the exception being casual conversation every now and then with occasional spurts of noises from Tommy, until Cameron was finished. Proud of her work, she placed a mirror in front of Tim and asked, "What do you think?"

"It looks great!" Tim said pleased. A quick look to his side showed him Tommy didn't share that sentiment and Tim sighed, "If only he thought so too."

"He's acting like he's never seen you before," Cameron noted with a laugh. "Hopefully it grows on him soon."

Tim knew Tommy must have also hated having to sit in the chair with nothing to do and he immediately lifted him out to his play pen. He didn't look interested in his toys at first, still staring at Tim, but he quickly found the blocks more worthy of his attention.

After everything had been put away, Cameron paid, and the floor cleaned, Tim glanced at the clock and noted, "That took a lot longer than I expected it to even without you getting your haircut."

Tim opened his phone to see when exactly Alfred had called and after doing the math in his head he leaned beside Tommy and asked, "We still have an hour and a half to waste so how about a walk through the park, Tommy?"

Now aware of just what Tim meant when he said 'park,' Tommy returned Tim's gaze and instinctively raised his arm waiting for Tim to lift him up.

"I'll take that as a yes, but how about no more crying today? I'd really appreciate it."

* * *

By the time they were back in the apartment Tim estimated he had fifteen minutes until Alfred would show up. That gave him just enough time to rush Tommy to his room and get him out of his dirt caked clothes. Tom had found a puddle interesting and and his already frail grasp of walking failed him.

Tim wasn't so much worried about the dirt, a lot of his childhood had been spent rolling through his backyard acting out superhero fights from tv, but he didn't want the first time Alfred saw his brother to be with him doubting the work Tim had been doing.

Once they were both cleaned off, Tim settled Tommy back into his playpen, used the tv as background noise, and scrolled through his email looking for a response. Reading that the issue had already been handled, M-cubed contacting GA directly for a copy of the transcript when they didn't get a response at first, Tim sighed and put his iPad aside to see what his little brother was trying to make with his blocks. He noted, "You need to build a stronger base if you want to make the tower that high, Tommy. If not it's going to fall over."

It only took a few moments before Tim followed up with, "I told you so," but by then Tommy was more interested in what Tim was watching on the tv and leaned against the railing of his play pen asking to be let out.

Even as he lifted Tommy onto a place beside him on the couch, Tim mumbled, "I should probably keep you in there for being so mean to be about my haircut, but I guess I love you too much."

At the silence that followed, he pitched his voice higher and responded to himself. "I love you too, Tim. You're the best big brother ever. I want to be just like you when I grow up."

Tommy promptly ignored the impersonation, Tim didn't think he looked all that impressed, and only turned away from the tv when the panel beside the front door buzzed through the apartment. A voice called out, "Mr. Drake, there's an Alfred Pennyworth here to see you."

Tim quickly rose from his seat and answered, "Thanks. You can let him up."

Walking back to Tommy, it took a while to get to the top floor, Tim leaned over the couch and reiterated, "You're really going to like Alfred, Tommy, and hopefully he likes you too."

Now that there was no more strange noises in the apartment, the last time he'd heard that noise a lady came it to mutilate his brother's hair, Tommy returned his attention to the tv. For now at the very least everything was in order and he was satisfied with that.

They sat in silence, Tim pretending to be interested in the tv to hide his anxiousness, until there was a knock on the front door. At the second intrusion of the day, Tommy gave Tim a frustrated look and silently begged him to do something about it.

"No need to get prissy, Tommy. He's only going to be here for a couple of hours at most," Tim said as he rushed to the door. He opened it with a sincere smile and said, "Hello, Alfred. It's nice to see you. Please come in."

Embracing him in a tight hug, Alfred said, "It's been far too long, Master Tim. I hope you don't make a pattern out of not visiting family for months."

Tim chose to ignore the implication to lead Alfred to the living room. Reaching down from behind the couch to raise Tommy in the air, Tim decided it would be best to rip the bandage and explained, "This is my little brother, Tommy. I've had him since the last time we saw each other, so about three months."

Alfred was shocked, but after giving himself a minute to grasp the situation he reached out to pat Tommy on the cheek before and took him into his arms. Bouncing him a little and mentally connected the dots, Alfred said, "I'm assuming he is the reason for your leaving Gotham." Still, he had to asked, "What exactly happened? He looks far older than three months."

"He's just over a year old; his birthday was August 7th. Dana was pregnant when she was in the hospital, but it wasn't something a lot of people knew. I thought they'd both died, but Ra's brought him to life in the pit. I'm still a little blurry on the details, but apparently it won't have an effect on him because he never really died. He was just born in the pit if that makes sense. A few months later Ra's contacted me, he said he waited so long because wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any side effects, and I got him the night after we moved all of my stuff out of the Manor."

Alfred considered the explanation while seating Tommy and his lap and decided it made about as much sense as anything else in his life. Instead of questioning it, he asked, "His full name?"

"It's Thomas Jonathan Drake." At the curious glance, Tim explained, "Dana picked it out before she died. She told me about it and I decided not to change it."

"Who else knows about Master Thomas? I'm assuming you didn't inform Master Bruce or Master Dick about him before your departure?"

"No it's basically you, me, Ra's, a bunch of people in the League of Assassins I guess, and some people in New York. He goes to daycare, but they aren't all that interested in telling people about him."

Alfred nodded at the information, still slightly in shock to see that Tim had a brother, someone he'd consider a grandson if he knew Tim shared the sentiment, and enjoyed Tommy's interest in his glasses. "I'm also assuming you're planning on raising him in New York, away from Gotham and us."

Tim knew Alfred would be disappointed in the answer, he seemed to really enjoy spending time with Tommy, but he knew it would be best to be honest. "Yeah. It's not really something I want to spend a lot of time thinking about."

Even though he didn't like the response, Alfred acknowledged, "I can't say I would be much different if I were in your shoes."

"He's been pretty good. He doesn't cry as much as I thought kids do and he doesn't throw a lot of tantrums," Tim said hoping to change the subject. "He mostly goes with everything I say although today was an exception." At Alfred's raised eyebrow he explained, "We were getting our hair cut today, but Tommy was afraid. He was upset just at seeing me get my hair cut, but he came around on that pretty quickly."

"I can try cutting his hair," Alfred offered. "He might be more welcoming to someone he's gotten the chance to know."

"You don't have to do that, Alfie. We're going to try again in a couple of days just to see how he does so it's no big trouble."

"I must insist, Master Tim. I'm aware that my time With Master Tom is going to be limited, but I do intend on making the most out of it as possible." Glancing away from Tommy as he tried to reach for his glasses, Alfred explained, "I consider him to be a member of my family just as you are, Master Tim."

Tim knew he wouldn't be able to change Alfred's mind, he didn't look like he would be willing to let Tommy go if Tim forced the issue, so he found the tools from a bathroom and pulled out his highchair.

As soon as he was back in his chair Tommy expected lunch and his disappointment when Tim placed the scissors on the counter was evident. Alfred gave him a stern look before he could think of voicing his concern and instructed him to sit straight. "We wouldn't want for this to end in disaster, Master Thomas. People aren't going to be impressed with a boy with messy hair."

Tim knew the final point was directed at him, Alfred's distaste for his hair was well known to everyone in the Manor, but he chose to ignore as he found one of Tommy's favorite toys hoping it would distract. When he did look up to see Alfred examining his own hair cut, he offered, "It's better than what it was before. At least now I don't need to tie it up."

"If this were your only fashion misjudgements I would be proud, Master Timothy, but something tells me it's not."

An imagine of Dick with his rat tail and disco inspired Nightwing suit flashed through Tim's mind and he allowed himself a chance to laugh before asking, "Do you want something to eat? It's almost time for lunch, I can tell Tommy's ready, and I'm sure you didn't get a chance to eat before coming over."

"I would appreciate it, Maste Tim." Alfred wasn't used to someone else offering to cook him a meal and he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. At the very least he wanted to see just what Tim was feeding his grandson and if it would require any intervention on his part.

Looking through his fridge, Tim asked, "Does avocado on toast sound good? We went out yesterday and got some fresh avocados along with some other stuff."

"That sounds excellent, Master Tim." Combing out Tommy's hair and urging him to keep his attention on the song the dog in his hand was singing, Alfred added, "This shouldn't take too long. Master Thomas does has impressive hair for his age, but it's to be expected if we take you into consideration."

Slicing four pieces of bread, Tim placed them on the stove before asking, "Did you just compliment my hair, Alfie? This really is a day like no other."

"Compliment would be a strong word for it, but wouldn't be a tragedy for Master Thomas to inherit some of your genes. Your style is a different issue."

Tim looked up to see Tom sitting relatively still as Alfred began trimming the hairs on the back of his head and shot back, "I know a compliment when I see one, Alfred, and that was definitely a compliment. I'll cherish it for as long as I live."

Alfred smiled at the response, but decided to focus on Tommy's hair. He and Tim worked in silence, Alfred with years of experience from cutting Bruce and Dick's hair and Tim with years of experience in cooking from Alfred.

Tom managed to sit still throughout the entire ordeal, there was only a slight moment where he wanted to protest to the scissors cutting the hair above his eyes, and Alfred set him back on the ground to stretch out his legs before lunch. It was a reward for his good behavior and he immediately stumbled his way to his older brother.

Tim was busy setting up the table, but as soon as he was finished he lifted Tommy up and asked, "Now who are you? You can't be my little brother because he's not as cute as you." Lowering him from his line of vision, Tim pretended to look around wondering out loud, "Where could he have gone? He was just here a few minutes ago."

He raised and lowered Tommy a few times, pretending to be deep in thought, until Tommy started laughing and Tim gasped, "I'd know that laugh anywhere. You must be my Tommy." Holding him closer, Tim asked, "Is that you, Tommy? I've been looking everywhere for you."

The noise Tommy gave him in response was more like a cackle, but Tim pretended it was and answer and returned him to his seat with the explanation, "It's time to eat, Tommy. I know how energy consuming a haircut can be. I've had 17 years of experience."

At that response Alfred's head shot up from where he was sweeping the floor. It took him a moment to realize Tim had had a birthday in the months he'd been away from Gotham and he hated himself all the more for not realizing. The day had gone by without anyone realizing Tim was missing and he wanted to steal Tim back to the Manor and make it up to him, but he knew it wasn't possible. Seeing Tim eliciting more laughs from his little brother as he started placing his food in front of him was all Alfred needed to know Tim was much better off for not being in their presence.

Even though it hurt to admit it, there wasn't much he could do to change it either. He settled for enjoying his company as much as he would be allowed and knew Bruce and Dick would envy, probably even hate, him when everything came to light because it would. No matter how much Tim might want to avoid it, one stray paparazzi posting a picture of him with Tommy would be enough to reveal his secret and it probably wouldn't be too far in the future.

Looking up when he felt the weight of Alfred's stare, Tim rose from his seat and offered, "I can clean it up, Alfred. You're probably hungry."

"It's no problem, Master Tim. I'm almost done."

Trusting Alfred, Tim turned back to Tommy and asked, "You ready for the next bite, little bro?"

Alfred quickly swept the hair away into the trash can before cleaning his hands and pulling out a seat beside Tim. He ate silently, more focused on Tom and Tim laughing with one another than his food, before putting his plate away and looking for something to do. Tim seemed to see his confusion and asked, "Can you warm up some milk? He's going to need his nap soon. Tommy's always tired after his lunch."

The trio found themselves on the couch watching television until Alfred started to notice Tom yawning. Watching him struggle to get through the bottle in his hand, keeping it in his mouth but unable to drink and keep himself upright at the same time, Alfred asked, "Should I put him down for his nap? Master Tom looks like he might collapse at any moment."

Glancing down, Tim asked, "You ready for a nap, Tommy?"

Tom looked like he took a moment to consider going back to his room before urging Tim to lay on his back. From what Tim could make out from his mumbling he assumed Tommy wanted to sleep with him on the couch.

As soon as Tom was satisfied with Tim's position, flat on his back with only his head resting on the arm, Tom crawled up on top of his chest and settled in. He needed Tim's help to not drop the bottle, but as soon as he had a grip Tom tried to edge himself towards the tv and continue watching. Tim knew it wouldn't last long and as he'd expected Tom was passed out in a few minutes as he was struggling to maintain his grip on the bottle now close to running out.

While Alfred was fixated on watching Tommy, for Tim it was a regular experience, he simply let his brother doze off on his chest while he scrolled through something on his phone. Alfred wanted to say something, ask to let Tommy sleep beside him, but he couldn't work up the courage. Instead, it was the weight of his stare that pulled Tim's attention away from his phone to study the look on his face and it only took him a moment to understand. Dutifully, Tim straightened up slightly before feigning, "I have to go to the restroom, you want to take over for a while?"

"If that's what you want, Master Tim," Alfred quickly answered

Holding onto Tom, careful of not moving him too much and wake him up, Tim moved over on the couch and said, "You should come over here. He'll be fine just sleeping on your lap, but he's going to need some room cause he moves around a lot."

Alfred settled into Tim's old position and uncharacteristically stiffened up as Tim set his brother down. Tom struggled against the change at first, not liking the difference between Tim's chest and Alfred's lap, but calmed down once Alfred began running his hand through his hair for comfort.

Tim watched them closely before noting, "His bottle is about to run out. I'll go warm up another one before he gets fussy."

Alone with the one year old for the first time, even if Tim was still only a few feet away, Alfred felt an urge to pull out his own phone and take a picture to commemorate the experience. It had been years since he'd been in the prolonged company of a toddler, especially one he considered to be a part of his family, but it was his respect for Tim's privacy that kept him from acting. If Tim wanted to raise Tommy without the knowledge or constant criticism from Bruce, far be it for Alfred to complain. He couldn't promise that the picture wouldn't be seen by unwelcomed eyes so instead he focused on memorizing as much of the moment as he could.

Back with the new bottle, Tim had to force the old one from an annoyed Tommy before urging the replacement into his hand. He immediately settled into a new position to make up for the new weight in his hand while Alfred continued to brush his hair.

Watching the two interact and entertained by Alfred's uncharacteristic nervousness, Tim offered, "I have to go grab something from the shop. I was planning on getting it sometime later, but if you want some alone time with Tommy I can be back in an hour."

Usually Alfred would go through the expected routine of assuring Tim he would be fine with either choice, but this time he didn't want to let the opportunity slip. "It would be no problem, Master Tim. Take all the time you need."

Tim quickly left the room to find a jacket and some money before adding, "Tommy will probably be up by the time I get back so you might need to change his diaper. Everything is in his room, you'll be able to tell which one it is, and then you can decide what you want to do. Like I said, he'll usually just go with the flow if you want to watch a movie or a game he can play on the iPad."

"I'll keep that in mind, Master Tim. I can't imagine I'll have a lot of issues with Master Thomas."

Tim watched the two from his position by the door before offering, "I won't be upset if you want to take a picture or two. I already have a lot of my own."

"I can't promise that Master Bruce or Master Dick won't find them, Master Tim. It might blow your secret," Alfred said in warning. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't risk Tim's privacy.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Tim said sincerely. "You could just say it's a picture of me from when I was a kid."

Alfred appreciated the consideration and waved goodbye at Tim as he disappeared behind the door. Once again alone with Tommy, Alfred thought back to Tim's own collection of pictures and tried to imagine where he could have stored them. Knowing the teenager, Alfred expected him to have the pictures stored anywhere he could and from what he'd learned about today's technology that could mean anything short of the microwave. Conscious of not disturbing Thomas as he continued to nap, Alfred leaned forward to the remote from where it rested on the coffee table and tried to navigate to where the photos app. He eventually asked Siri low enough not to bother Tommy and allowed her to lead him there instead. He found a few different albums, most having something to do with what Alfred supposed were jokes from the internet, and ignored them for the one aptly titled, "Tommy."

He didn't know how long he'd spent looking through the pictures, Tim certainly had quite a collection for only having his brother for a few months, but soon enough Tom was starting to wake up. The nap was too short for Alfred's comfort, only an hour long, but well within the limits Tim had set so he didn't think too much of it. Tom's bottle was already finished, he dropped it when he couldn't get anything more from it, but he'd started drooling on Alfred's pant leg and yawning as his nap neared it's end. Alfred watched as he slowly sat up, now fully rested, and looked around for something Alfred didn't understand. Tommy grew slightly more anxious as he couldn't find it and much to Alfred's horror he started shrieking.

Alfred tried to calm him down by bouncing him in his arms and assuring him, "Everything's okay, Tommy. There's no reason to be upset."

When nothing worked he worked through the options, changing his diaper and giving him something to eat before realizing he was probably afraid that his older brother wasn't around. Knowing it would be his best option, Alfred opened a picture of Tim on the television and asked, "Do you see Master Tim? He's right there."

Finally catching sight of his older brother, Tommy tried to break away from Alfred hold and reach for Tim. It caught Alfred off guard, but he was able to stop Tom from lurching forward, but that only made the one year old hate him more.

Thinking quickly, Alfred lead them both away to the iPad resting on the couch where Tim had last used it. After a few minutes of urging Tommy to put in the passcode, Alfred navigated to the photos app and pulled up the same picture of Tim. He lifted it up to Tommy's eye level and said, "Here's Master Tim, again. Do you want to hold him?"

Confused, Tommy looked back between the Tim on the tv and the Tim in front of him before deciding he didn't care. He took the iPad away from Alfred, rougher than he needed to be, and ran away from the living room still angry. Satisfied not to have him crying, Alfred followed him to the theater room as Tommy whispered to the iPad and lifted himself onto a seat. He looked back at Tim expectantly and Alfred quickly worked out that he wanted to watch a movie. He took a seat beside Tommy, aware of how the one year old gripped the iPad closer to his chest, and started a movie chuckling at how easily Tommy's spirits were lifted. The one year old looked as happy as he ever had been watching the pictures on the screen and talking to the picture of his older brother.

Neither of the two heard Tim come in halfway through the movie, the sound not carrying to the room, but Tim could hear the movie playing loud and clear. He set the bags down in his room before following the noise to see where the pair was seated.

Both of their attentions were focused on the screen so it wasn't a lot trouble for Tim to sneak up from Tommy's side and jump up as soon as he was close enough to grab a hold of him. At first Tommy was ready to start screaming again, but as soon as Tim was clear he reached forward wanting to hold him. He much prefered this version of Tim to the one on the iPad who wouldn't even say anything back to him.

"How'd it go, kiddo?" Tim asked happy to see his brother had done well with Alfred. "Did you have fun?"

"Um hum," Tommy said excited. "Movie."

Looking over his brother to see Alfred, Tim asked, "How was he?"

"He had some trouble with your absence, Master Tim, but he calmed down after I showed him your picture," Alfred said with a laugh. "He's quite fond of you."

Tim wasn't happy to know that his brother had been hard on Alfred and he wanted to correct things as swiftly as possible. He sat down beside Alfred and sat Tommy down on his lap. Keep him at eye level, Tim sternly asked, "Where you being difficult, Tommy? You know you're better than that."

Not used to Tim being angry with him, Tom thought it would be best to ignore it. Instead he leaned into his chest and dug out the iPad to play a game. Now that his brother was here he wasn't interested in the movie anymore.

Upset, Tim snatched the iPad out from his hands and forced Tom to face Alfred. Tom started to struggle, but he settled down when Tim shot him a glare. "Say you're sorry, Tommy. After you apologize you can get it back. You have to apologize to Alfred first."

At the confused and scared look Tom gave both of them, Alfred sympathized with the toddler. He urged Tim, "You don't have to do that, Master Tim. He was just upset not to have his older brother around."

"That doesn't mean he can be rude, especially not to family. Say you're sorry, Tommy. Say you're sorry." He repeated the instruction slowly to make it easier for him to understand.

Willing to do anything to stop Tim from being upset, Tommy looked at Alfred and mimicked, "Sowwy."

Alfred felt sorry for the toddler seeing as how he looked like he was on the verge of tears again. He held out his arms to see if the Tommy wanted to come to his seat and when he made it past the arm divider mimicked the position Tim had been holding him in a few minutes ago.

Tommy immediately leaned it, appreciating the comfort after having his brother angry with him, and repeated his apology for good measure. "Sowwy."

Rubbing his back supportively, Alfred assured him, "That's okay, Master Tommy. I know you you couldn't help yourself." This was the first time Tommy reached out to him, even if it did take some prodding at first, and he wasn't going to let the opportunity slip past him.

Tom decided to he could forgive Alfred for the struggle an hour ago and he much prefered him to Tim right now. After a moment if enjoying Alfred's support, Tom straightened up and started pulling on his jacket. "Room. Room."

At Alfred's confused look Tim translated, "Tommy wants to show you his room. He's starting to like you, Alfie."

Ignoring his brother as his own form of punishment, Tommy slid off Alfred's lap and repeated, "Room. Room."

Alfred waited for a cue from Tim and when he had a nod he stood up to follow Tommy's lead. Tommy gripped tightly to his pant leg and started to pull. Once again, for good measure, he said, "Room," in case Alfred had forgotten already.

Tim watched from his seat and chuckled just low enough for them not to hear before pausing the movie to see if there was anything he needed to do.

When they were finally in his room, Tommy instructed Alfred to sit in the chair while he brought out some of his larger toys that didn't need to be brought to his pen. His favorite was a xylophone in bright colors that Tim had adjusted to have an even wider range. Laughing as Tommy refused any help even though it took all of his strength to position it in front of him, Alfred remarked, "You remind me so much of your older brother. He makes his own rules too."

Tommy hummed in agreement, at least Alfred thought it was an agreement. It could have also been his version of singing, but Alfred liked to think it was an agreement.

"He's been doing an excellent job of raising you, you know, although I do wish he was raising you in Gotham." Thinking to himself Alfred realized, "I guess you don't know a lot about Gotham. Tim probably doesn't like to think about Gotham or Master Dick, definitely not Master Bruce." He stopped for a moment to enjoy the song Tommy was working on before adding, "You're far too young to understand, but if you ever need them, us, you have a family who would love to meet you, Master Tom."

"Tom," Tom repeated thinking it was his turn to say something.

"Yes you are, and you're a wonderful musician too."

Tom decided he'd had enough of the xylophone and immediately stuck a flute in his mouth. Alfred had to fix his direction, but it didn't change much as Tom tried to suck in instead of blowing out. It wouldn't have made a difference to correct him, so Alfred left Tommy to work on his masterpiece to see what Tim was up to.

He found Tim sitting on the island on the kitchen typing away at his laptop. Taking the liberty to grab a glass of water, Alfred sat across from him and asked, "What are you working on, Master Tim?"

"It's not work, Alfie. I'm just winning an argument." More to himself than Alfred, he whispered, "Cause that's what I do. I win."

"Do you have any more prep to do for your school? I know they have an affinity for assigning work over the summer vacation."

"Not really. I only had to take a placement exam to make sure I was ready for junior year. It was pretty easy considering how little I spent in class sophomore year."

"I'm sure highschool will be a breeze for you, Master Tim," Alfred said in encouragement. "It always was."

"I can always count on you for moral support, Alfie. How's Tommy doing right now?"

"He's busy working on his master flute piece."

"Hmm." Not hearing any noise, he asked, "Does he still not know to blow not suck?"

"He'll come around eventually, Master Tim."

"And then I'll get the chance to listen to those masterpieces he's working on nonstop."

Alfred smiled at their easy conversation, it reminded him a lot of a much younger Timothy sitting in the kitchen of the Manor keeping him busy while he worked on dinner, and hoped Tim felt the same as he asked, "Do you have any plans for where Master Tom is going to stay while you're at school?"

"He's been going to daycare for a while to get adjusted so the transition isn't bad tomorrow."

"What about if you need to spend the night someplace or spend the weekend away?"

"You think I should get a live in nanny?" Tim asked curious. "I was just planning on not going either of those."

"If you need the help I'm willing."

"You don't have to worry about us, Alfred. I know better than that. Plus, when was the last time I've done anything over the weekend." There was a lull in the conversation as Tim finished up on whatever he was writing. When he finally looked at Alfred, looked at the way he was focusing on not looking at Tim, he realized, "You want to babysit Tommy don't you?"

"I'd love to have the chance, yes."

Crossing his arms and leaning back, Tim asked, "Would you want to do this in Gotham or here?"

"I have no objections either way, Master Tim. I understand why you'd like to keep him in New York and I won't fight you on it. I don't have the right."

"You're practically his grandpa, Alfred," Tim said softly. "You have the right to an opinion, although mine does count for astronomically more."

"I appreciate the consideration, Master Tim. I imagined it would be best for everyone involved that Master Tom stay in New York."

"I'm guessing if I ever need your help I can call you and you'll be here instantly?" Tim asked already knowing the answer.

"Of course, Master Tim. I hope you've never doubted that for a second."

"So we can come up with a plan. You can come by once a month for the weekend, make any kind of excuse to Bruce, and in return I'll call you when I need help. You get a weekend a month and I get a babysitter."

Alfred knew Tim didn't have to do this for him, he could hire any babysitter he wanted, and he sincerely said, "Thank you very much, Master Tim. I'd love to have the opportunity to get to know Thomas better."

Satisfied with the progress they'd made, talking about feelings were never this family's specialties, Tim stepped off the chair and asked, "Do you want to stay for dinner? I know we weren't planning on it, but I don't think I'll be able to rip Tommy away from you."

"I'd love to, Master Tim, but I can't. I have to get back to Gotham and start on dinner for Master Bruce and Dick. I didn't leave with a lot of warning."

Tim looked at the clock and realized he'd been over for much longer than he'd expected. With the long drive home he'd have to leave soon. Drawing his attention to the time, Tim asked, "How soon do you have to go?"

Check the time, Alfred sighed, "I'd say any moment now if I were being honest. I'm already pushing the limits."

"I'll go get Tommy," Tim announced. "He'll be upset if he doesn't get the chance to say goodbye," Tim disappearing behind the hallway. Alfred made sure there was nothing he was missing and came back the kitchen just in time to have Tim set Tommy down on the counter.

Alfred leaned down beside Tommy and explained, "I'm sorry to pull you away from your music, but I have to leave. This is goodbye for now, Master Tommy."

"Tom," Tom repeated.

"He does that a lot," Tim explained. Looking down at Tommy so his focus was on Alfred, Tim instructed, "Say bye-bye, Alfie. He has to leave to go home."

Tom needed Tim to repeat his instructions a few times, but in the end he was waving, "Bye-bye, Alfie. Bye-bye, Alfie."

"Good bye, Master Tommy. I can't wait to see you again."

"Bye-bye, Alfie," Tommy said one last time for good measure. When they couldn't see him anymore, Tommy turned to Tim and waited to see what they would be doing for the rest of the day.

Tim leaned down eye level to Tommy and reminded him, "You're going to be at daycare full time tomorrow, Tommy, so you better not pull the same thing you did with Alfie. Can I get a promise you'll be good like always?"

Not really caring for Tim's explanation, it was too long to be interesting, Tom settled for smiling and hoping they would be having dinner soon.

* * *

Tim had set his alarm clock to go of an hour before he needed to wake up. It was his fail-safe in case something went wrong in the last minute and meant he could spend extra time in bed.

He spent as long as he could not moving, trying to shake off the anxiety, until he could see Tom waking up through the baby monitor. He rolled around the crib, momentarily entertained with the mobile hanging above it, until Tim decided it was now or never.

They were out of the apartment quick enough, waving goodbye to the receptionist and walking to the daycare. By now Tom knew to be excited. He was ready to jump out of Tim's arms by the time they reached the front desk and Tim started sighing in.

Just to antagonize his brother a little, Tim held him so he couldn't move and prolonged their goodbye as long as he could. As soon as his feet were on the ground Tom was ready and excited as his teacher came around to help him to the classroom.

The only thing Tim got was a rushed wave goodbye before he had to go to his own school.

Tim had tested the walk a few times before, seeing how long it would take and what the best route would be in terms of time, safety, and aesthetics, and followed through on the quickest one. Even though he had all the time he could need, Tim wanted to make sure he'd memorized his schedule in case of an emergency.

Tim walked past the front gate, he already knew the layout of the whole campus, and into the main building. The school wasn't anywhere near as uppity as Gotham Academy, something Tim considered to be a good thing, a very good thing, and most of the other students seemed fine enough. He dropped off some of his books in his locker, he wouldn't need them until after lunch anyway, and walked to his first class.

His class wasn't hard to find, although he did think he had the wrong room when it was empty, and he took up a seat in the back. Like it or not he was raised a bat and this seat gave him the best view of the whole classroom and the courtyard down below. With nothing else to do, Tim pulled out his phone again and scrolled through social media. His close friends knew he was in New York, he'd made sure Ives knew any possible way to contact him, but he didn't have some messages asking about his schedule and where he'd be spending lunch and he thought it would take too much effort to respond back. Ignoring them was easier.

A few other students came in not long after, awkward smiles all around, and soon enough there was noise coming from the courtyard. Tim was able to drown out most of it as students meeting classmates they hadn't seen since before summer until he heard shouting and an obvious commotion. From what he could tell a couple of football players were ganging up on a nerdy looking kid, but another kid, someone Tim was sure he'd seen before, came in to stop them. The nerdy kid was being antagonized by a couple of the other students, he probably wasn't all that popular, but he seemed to handle it like a trooper and walk past them.

It must have been a common occurrence as most of the other students seemed interested. They all either watched as bystanders or focused on something else. Before Tim could come up with the costume design for his high school bully fighting super hero, said nerdy kid walked into the classroom and took the seat closest to Tim. He didn't seem to notice Tim so he assumed the kid just wanted to be out of the other's eyeline.

Tim wanted to say something, but he didn't seem all that bothered, further proving this was a common occurrence, and started to wait for class to start.

It didn't take long for the class to fill up and Tim could make some of the other students from the crowd from the courtyard. A particular blond in a letterman stook out from his seat not to far ahead from him. Every now and then he'd look back to the back of the classroom, but neither of the two said anything.

The teacher came in a few minutes later and and once the bell rang he immediately started hanging out syllabi while explaining, "Everyone should be in here for biology. If you're not supposed to be with me, Mr. Robertson, I'm sorry but you're in the wrong room." After no one moved he added, "We'll start with the roll now so everyone has time to see if there's been a mistake and we can fix during class. If you'd like to go by something other than the name on my roll feel free to tell me."

He seemed to know a lot of the students in the class, the school wasn't that large anyway so Tim wouldn't be surprised if most people knew each other, but it did surprise Tim when he stopped at his name. He looked around the classroom and already had his eyes on Tim when he asked, "Timothy Drake?"

Eyes trained on the teacher looking for any sign that he should be worried, Tim simply said, "Here."

While Mr. Robertson's attention turned to the rest of the roll, the kid beside Tim looked him over before asking, "You're Tim Drake?"

"Umm, yeah," Tim answered confused. He wasn't sure he knew anyone in the class, but so far two people seemed to know him.

"I think you met my aunt in the park a few weeks ago," he explained. "She told me about you."

"You must be Peter then," Tim realized. He couldn't believe he'd remembered the name, but he seemed to be right.

"Guilty," he said with a smile. "Aunt May wanted me to keep you company, but I didn't think it would be this easy to find you. She said you're from Gotham and new here."

"Yeah I just moved in a couple of weeks ago," Tim whispered to not draw attention to themselves. "I met your aunt like the first full day I was here."

"Well she wants you to come over for dinner some time with your kid brother."

They were interrupted with Mr. Robertson calling out for Peter Parker, but immediately after Tim said, "That sounds like a great idea."

The rest of the class followed easily enough, Tim and Peter made light conversation and once they finished going over the syllabus the end of class was spent by students sitting around in groups talking.

"I've never been to Gotham but I have seen Batman on the news. He looks kickass," Peter said when the conversation eventually turned to superheroes.

"Yeah I guess," Tim said with a laugh. He'd had to talk about Batman enough in school it stopped being weird a long time ago. "He's no Iron Man though. Tony Stark really is something else." This was his own special dig against Bruce and Tim only wished he'd been able to hear it.

"Well I guess New York is lucky enough to have a bunch of heroes. The Avengers are based down here and there's Daredevil too, but he usually sticks to his own little section of the city." Shaking his head, Peter forced himself to focus. "I'm supposed to be telling you about the school, not heroes. Do you have your schedule with you? We can see if we have any classes together."

"Yeah it's on my phone," Tim said as he dug it out from his pocket. "The administration gave me the schedule after taking the entrance exam so I didn't get to pick any of my classes out myself."

Reading off of Tim's phone and comparing it to his own, Peter assured him, "You have pretty good teachers here and all of your classes are with me. We're going to be seeing a lot of each other."

"Well then I guess it's good to have a familiar face around."

It didn't take long for the bell to cut them off, but before they could walk to their next class Mr. Robertson asked, "Can I see you for a second, Peter? It won't take long."

Peter grabbed his bag and instructed Tim, "Wait for me outside. Our next class is right across the hall anyway so it won't be a problem."

Tim didn't think too much of it and watched the other students from the hallway while he waited. M-cubed seemed like a regular high school, jocks and nerds always at odds with most people focused on socializing, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. For a school practically next door to a major wing of the superhero community everything looked normal, but this also could just be because it was the first day of the school year. There was still a lot of time for a mess to brew up and Tim had a feeling that was exactly what was going to be happening..

"So lets get going, Tim." Peter said sneaking up behind him a few minutes later.

Tim could tell he was a little shaken up, he did hide it well but Tim was trained by Batman, and he instinctively asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah it was just - it's nothing," he said leading Tim away from the doorway.

Tim didn't want to say anything to make Peter feel any worse and he changed the topic while following him to the next class. "So a field trip to Stark Industries should be interesting."

"It really is. They're partnering with our science programs this year and that means a lot trips to see their research. It used to be Oscorp, but they've been having some trouble recently." His voice tapered off at the end of sentence and Tim made a mental note not to talk about Oscorp around Peter. He could save that for when he's back at home.

"I wonder if Tony would let us work on anything for the Iron Man suit," Tim said hopefully. "It's probably the most important part of the entire company."

"The suit is probably something he works on privately," Peter with a laugh. "There's nothing a few high school students could do that he couldn't. We'll probably see more about energy conservation considering it's what he's been focusing on the last couple of months."

"I guess it's better than nothing," Tim said as they walked into their next class.

There weren't any seats available in the back, but the pair found a seat next to one of Peter's friends from before. He was the one Tim had seen defend Peter in the courtyard and looking at him closer Tim was still sure he'd seen him before.

"Harry, this is Tim Dick. He just moved here from Gotham. Tim, this is Harry Osborn, a good friend of mine since middle school," Peter said introducing them to one another.

Harry held his hand out and explained, "We've met before a couple of times. It was mostly formal parties so we didn't get a chance to talk all that much."

"I always hated those things," Tim groaned. "There was never anything interesting going on."

"It was mostly aging socialites trying to pretend like they liked each other," Harry said with a laugh. "Now I just pretend like I have some important homework to do so my dad doesn't make me go."

"Usually that means me coming by and sneaking out before Mr. Osborne gets back," Peter added. "Really came in handy over summer break."

The teacher followed the same routine as the previous one, handing out the syllabus and taking a roll of the students in attendance, but Tim could tell some of the students were talking about him. When he was sitting in the back he wasn't in the eyeline of most people, but by being in the center of the room he had half the class looking at him. The good thing was that after years of peers knowing some of the most private parts of his life Tim was used to it.

Peter seemed to hear them too, judging from the tightening grip on his pen he wanted to do something about them, but a look from Tim calmed him down enough to focus on the teacher instead.

Afterwards, when Peter and Harry were leading him to a courtyard where most of the students ate lunch, Tim assured them, "You don't have to bother with what people say. It's no big deal."

"Well, I think it's pretty messed up," Peter said defiantly. "I mean you've only been here for a few hours and people are already acting like complete shits."

Cutting into their conversation, the student who had been bothering Peter in the courtyard decided it would be the best time to introduce himself. "If he wanted to avoid getting picked on he wouldn't be hanging around you, Parker."

"Fuck off Flash," Harry said annoyed. "No one asked for your opinion."

"So the rumor going around is that you're Bruce Wayne's son, Tim Drake," Flash said ignoring Harry. "Any chance you moving out here means the Wayne family is moving to New York too? My father would love to get a chance to talk to yours and I couldn't let the chance to get to know you slip."

Tim decided to ignore the question and ask one of his own. "Did you rip off the nickname from the real Flash because you're fast or do you just have an affinity for taking off your clothes?"

The only one at the table not to chuckle, Flash warned, "You don't want to get on my wrong side Drake. Puny Parker knows all about that."

"Well, Pete? Anything to say?" Tim asked curious. He knew Peter wouldn't agree with Flash, but he was curious about how he would respond.

"I thought you and I were best friends, Flash," Peter said feigning being aghast. "You even edge out Harry on my list."

Frustrated, Flash moved away from the table to sit with his own friends on the other side of the courtyard. Tim watched him animatedly complain about the group to his friends but he couldn't bring himself to care about what they thought.

Attention back on Peter and Harry, Tim asked, "Is everyone here a walking cliche? He feels like something out of a movie."

"I wish this was a movie," Peter groaned. "His punches definitely feel pretty real."

* * *

"You know you don't have to walk me home, right?" Tim asked as Peter followed him off campus. Harry lived in the same direction, but he was stopping by at his father's company before going home.

"In theory, but I have a feeling Aunt May is going to want me to make sure you don't get lost."

"Well, I have to pick up my little brother from daycare first," Tim explained. "It's on the way so it shouldn't take too long."

"It's really no problem," Peter assured him. "Aunt May told me where you live and it's not too far from our own place. Only a few blocks."

"If you're sure."

"So anything your looking forward to?" Peter asked hoping to make casual conversation. "New York is pretty awesome if you haven't figured out yet."

"Nothing too touristy. I've seen most of the landmarks before and there's no point in doing them again."

"A lot's changed in the past few years," Peter said thinking back to the city's man attacks.

"I think the Avengers make that obvious. Gotham has it's share of evil villains, but you guys out do us in terms of alien invasions."

"The most interesting thing is how quickly the city was rebuilt," Peter said bewildered. "There's potholes that haven't been fixed in decades, but we somehow managed to rebuild entire city blocks in a few months."

"That's nothing compared to an entire floating in the air," Tim said thinking back to some more recent events. "The world really has gone to hell."

"If it's any consolation this also means more superheroes," Peter said cautiously. He didn't want the conversation to go closer to Spider-Man, but he couldn't help it. "A new one seems to pop up every few weeks."

"That doesn't mean all of them are any good. It only takes a freak in a suit to declare himself a hero or villain."

"Anyone come to mind?" Peter said mentally daring him to name Spider-Man.

"Yes," Tim said with a laugh. "Many, many people come to mind. They seem to be everywhere in Gotham."

"New York has better standards."

"Anyone come to mind?"

"Iron Man, Daredevil, Spider-Man," Peter said with pride. "If New York has one thing it's great heroes."

"I'll give you Tony and Daredevil, but Spider-Man's only been around for a few months. We have to hold out on deciding if he's as good."

"Maybe you have to, but I thought he looked pretty cool last night. He took out five robbers with one clean swipe," Peter said mimicking the movement. "That has to count for something."

Tim had seen the video on his way to school, but he didn't think that much of it. Spidey relied too much on his powers and couldn't win a fight without them. It was a good thing he mostly dealt with petty crime. "It's pretty obvious no one's taught him how to fight before," Tim said hoping it didn't give too much away about his past.

Not able to think of anything that would defend his alter-ego without giving his identity away, Peter settled for, "Maybe he just needs some more experience. We'll see how he's doing in a few months."

His defense of Spider-Man definitely raised an eyebrow, but Tim was used to people being uber defensive of their heroes. It only made sense that people would be more defensive with more internal competition to go against. Looking around he noted, "The daycare is just up there. It won't take too long to check him out."

Never having been in a daycare before, Peter asked, "Should I go in with you? I could wait outside."

"It's no problem," Tim said holding the door open. "We're just going to be a second anyway."

Peter found a seat while Tim talked to the receptionist and signed a book. He thought he might have some time to think over what Tim had said, but before he knew it Tim was sitting beside him and asking, "So what's Flash's problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is he a giant asshole in general or does he just have a problem with you?" Tim asked not payign attention to anyone who raised his or her eyebrow at his word choice.

"I don't really know why Flash has a problem with me, but there's been a rivalry since elementary school. I think there was something about a birthday, but I'm not sure. We've been at odds ever since."

"I would kill to know what happened to make him hate you for almost ten years."

"And I'm sure Spider-Man would stop you," Peter shot back.

Before Tim could think of anything to say, Tommy came round the corner with Ms. Garrison as his guide. He immediately made a beeline for Tim, stumbling slightly but making it over as soon as he could.

Tim reached down to collect his baby brother while asking, "How was your day, Tommy? Did you have a lot of fun?"

Tommy grumbled a mess of noises into Tim's shoulder, but was more interested in Peter as he followed them out the office. He held out a finger that Tommy immediately grasped as he introduced himself. "Hi, little guy. I'm Peter, a friend of your big brother."

"Remember Miss May, the nice lady we met in the park?" Tim asked. "He's her nephew."

"So what's the little guy's name?" Peter asked as Tommy kept his eyes trained on him.

"This full name is Thomas, but I usually go between Tommy and Tom. He answers to both."

"How old is he? I've never really been around kids a lot so I can't tell."

"He's just over a year old. His birthday was last month."

"Good news little guy. You still have many years before high school starts, enjoy them," Peter said more serious than he needed to be.

"It's not that bad, Peter," Tim said trying to be optimistic. "The only real issue is Flash."

"He's a pretty big issue."

"Yeah I guess you're right."

It didn't take them long to reach Tim's apartment and he politely asked, "Do you want to come upstairs? You could get a bite to eat."

"Nah I should be getting home," Peter said checking the time on his phone. "Aunt May always wants to celebrate the first day of the school year so I can't miss it."

"In that case I'll see you tomorrow, Pete," Tim said as he opened the door to the front lobby. "It was nice meeting you."

Peter waved back, "See you later," before walking back towards his own apartment. All things considered, the day had gone as good as his days usually went.


	4. Chapter 4

Tommy stared at the clock hanging inside his crib and let out an exasperated sigh. He'd hated the clock ever since Tim had gotten it for him. It lit up in bright yellow when it was okay for him to be awake, but when it was still gray he was supposed to go back to sleep. The problem was that Tom couldn't bring himself to fall asleep; he was too excited about waking about and going about his day. He wasn't in the mood for sleep and Tom decided he shouldn't have to stay in bed if he didn't want to.

He'd seen Tim dropped down the side of his crib a couple of times now and he was sure he could figure out how it worked. Determined, Tom leaned over the railings and found the metal thing that Tim always messed with. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, but he jiggled and pulled on everything he could until it finally gave way and he could pull a lever. Satisfied, Tommy repeated the same process on the other side and sat back as one side of his crib finally gave way. It didn't go as far down as Tom would have liked, but he was able to push it down after putting his entire body weight on top of it. Once it was as far down as Tommy could get it, he leaned over to see how much of a drop he would have to make. It was definitely higher than the couch, but he didn't think he'd get hurt. He let his feet drop off the side of the crib and slowly lowered himself until he was as far as he could go. Tommy still couldn't reach the floor, but he let go of his mattress and easily dropped onto the sheet and stuffed animals he'd used to cushion his fall.

Once he was finally free, Tommy thought of what he should do. Tim would always change his diaper and clean him up, but Tom didn't think he could do that himself. Instead, he stumbled to his toy chest and pulled out some of his favorites. He played silently by himself for a while before the excitement of being the only one awake made him interested in seeing how much he could do. Tom could play with his toys anytime, but there was a lot Tim would never let him do by himself.

Deciding to watch tv, Tommy tried the living room next. He balanced himself along the wall until he was in the room, but he stopped as soon as he caught sight of the view. He'd never seen the sunrise before and it was amazing. The whole room looked orange and there were so many colors in the sky that Tom didn't know what to think. He stumbled over to the window to get a better view and watched the skyline deeply entranced. He didn't know why he liked the orange sky and the sun slowly peeking up, but Tommy knew he wanted Tim to see this too.

He walked to Tim's room as fast as he could and crawled up beside his mattress. Tim was still sleeping soundly, but Tom didn't know how he should wake his older brother up. He didn't even know how Tim woke him up. Tommy crawled onto Tim's mattress and tried to shake him awake, stomping on his body just to be safe.

Surprised by how quickly Tim shot up from the bed, Tom was sure he'd stumble backwards and fall to the floor but Tim's arms caught him before he hurt himself.

Tim was confused at first, but he eventually sat Tommy on the bed beside him. He glanced at his phone and groaned, "We still have an hour and a half, Tommy. We shouldn't be up right now."

Not interested in anything Tim was saying, Tommy pointed in the direction of the living room and mumbled, something indistinguishable to Tim.

"Did you have a nightmare, Tommy?" Tim asked sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He couldn't even hold back a yawn as he asked, "Is that why you woke up so early?"

Tom nodded hoping Tim had gotten the point. He wasn't sure what Tim was saying, but he assumed his brother understood him.

Tim sighed and thought for a moment. "I guess I can't put you back in your crib right? Now you know how to get out and you'll probably be back here in 20 minutes."

Annoyed that Tim wasn't doing what he wanted him to, Tom groaned, "Tiiiim."

"It's okay. You're safe with me" Tim said in a tone he hoped was comforting instead of condescending. "I'm going to get some warm milk for you and you can try getting some sleep here, Tommy. I'll look over you in case you get another nightmare."

When Tim got up from the bed Tommy was elated, he was finally going to see their orange living room and the colorful sky, but he just went to the mini fridge in his room and warmed a bottle in the microwave. He didn't even go into the hallway.

Once Tim put the blanket back on the bed and crawled in beside him, Tommy started whining. Nothing was going right and it was the very least he could do to show his annoyance for how his day was going. He didn't think he should be punished for trying to share the view with his older brother.

Getting into his normal position, Tim explained, "I know, Tommy, but the nightmares won't bother you here." He helped Tom get his head on the pillow and offered him the bottle encouragingly.

Tom didn't want to accept it, but he did feel thirsty. Tom hadn't been able to get a drink for himself in the hour he'd spent walking around the apartment and he was willing to take the bottle Tim was offering. He was annoyed, but he eventually started sucking while thinking of something else he could do. He woefully repeated his depressed mumblings knowing they wouldn't have any effect on Tim.

"You can stay safe here, Tommy" Tim repeated as he found a comfortable position for them. "I'll make sure nothing hurts you."

Tommy hated this. He didn't break out of his crib just to go back to sleep again. He wanted to explore, stare at the sunrise and their new orange living room. Tim's arm wrapping around him was okay. Tommy sort of like feeling Tim breath on his hair, but he didn't want to lose his determination. He wiggled around to show Tim he was still annoyed, but his brother only pulled his phone out from under his pillow and messed with something. Settling back into their position, Tim mumbled, "I'm sorry, Tommy. I forgot this is probably too hot for you. You're so little you get hot easily."

Tommy wasn't sure what he'd done, but somehow the room started getting colder. Tim had managed to make the room colder and leave Tom now choice but to cuddle closer to Tim for warmth. Tom couldn't help but think that his big brother was horrible.

* * *

Tom groaned as he felt Tim shaking his stomach. He just wanted his brother to leave him alone so he could sleep forever.

"Funny how quickly things change, right, Tommy?" Tim asked with a small smile.

Tommy could see his brother smirking down at him like he was a baby. He usually loved his big brother, but right now he only sort of liked him. It would be better if Tim actually did the things Tom wanted him to. Tom definitely didn't want his brother to be looking down on him with his wet hair dripping water on his face.

Trying to help Tom into an upwards position to wake him up, Tim said, "Come on, bro. You were so ready to get up an hour ago."

"No," Tom yelled as loud as he could.

All of a sudden Tommy felt his body be dragged up as Tim lifted him into the air. "I saw what you did to your crib and the mess you left in your room. You're going to be a little devil aren't you?"

Tom dropped his head on Tim's shoulder hoping to get some sleep as he was carried around. He usually liked it when Tim carried it around, but right now he just found it demeaning and rude.

"This is why you should listen to everything I say, Tommy," Tim said happily as he set Tom down on the changing table. "Keep that in mind when you're older. It will save us a lot of trouble."

"Hmm," Tom mumbled hoping Tim would stop talking. Now he just felt like Tim was making fun of him.

* * *

Tim softly set Tommy on the ground as he signed him in at the receptionist's desk. Tom didn't like this either. His brother was supposed to play with him, pretend like he'd never let Tom go, but Tim couldn't get this right either. Today was definitely the worst day of his life.

"Have fun today, Tommy. I know you're mood will lighten up soon."

Ignoring his brother, Tom stumbled up to his teacher and asked to be let up as they walked to his classroom. He was sure he had heard Tim laughing, but Tom liked to think that Tim was crying because he realized how bad of a brother he was being.

* * *

Tim walked to school absentmindedly and was surprised to find some paparazzi handing around the front gate. He assumed they were here for him, someone from one of his classes must have said something to someone interested, but he wasn't worried about himself. Tim was worried about them following him home, or worse to Tom's daycare.

Walking away as to not draw too much attention to himself, Tim found an unattended entrance towards the back of the school and carefully made sure no one spotted him. He could feel some stray eyes on him, he hoped most were supportive, but he didn't draw any attention to himself as he walked to Peter and Harry's table in the courtyard.

"How's it going?" He asked as he sat on the bench.

"Fine I guess," Harry said quickly. Concerned, he asked, "Did you see all those people outside looking for you?"

Tim groaned, "Yeah I saw."

"Did any of them see you?"

"I don't think so. I came in through the back gate and I don't think anyone saw."

"It's pathetic what they're doing," Peter said shaking his head. "I can't believe they came all the way to your school just to bother you."

Hoping to lighten the mood, Tim said, "Yeah but you get used to it."

"Did you, Harry?"

"My dads never really been one for privacy, always wanting to put on a show, so I got used to it pretty quickly," Harry said in agreement. "They don't really follow to school anymore though. I guess they got a little bored."

"Hopefully they get bored soon too. Not really much of a story following you to school. It's not like Tim's a celebrity." Peter couldn't imagine a picture of Tim on the cover of some tabloid magazine, but he also knew there were some people who'd be interested in buying it.

"I'm not really worried about me. I can deal with it." Tim explained, "I just don't like the idea of them finding Tommy."

"Did you take him to daycare this morning?" Peter nodded at Harry's question and wondered if there might already be some camera men and women stationed outside of the daycare waiting for Tim to get back. He didn't know how rich people's daycares worked, but he hoped they had good security for Tom's sake.

"Yeah I dropped him off a little while ago. He's been having a bad day already so I don't think random people accosting him in public would do any good."

"You take him there every day right?" Harry asked thinking deeply. At Tim's nod he said, "It's probably more risky to keep on taking him there. It won't be long before they figure out where you live, someone's going to take a picture, and it could become a problem. Could you get someone to look after him? A nanny?"

Tim immediately thought of Alfred, but he didn't know if he'd be willing to move out of Gotham. "I don't think so," He said deflating. He knew Harry was probably right, he couldn't keep taking Tom to the daycare, but he also didn't want a stranger to stay with him at their home. It felt too intrusive. "I don't really like the idea of a stranger looking after Tom all day."

"Isn't that what his daycare teacher does?" Peter quickly shot back. "It's not like you really know his daycare teacher."

Feeling slightly stupid, Tim admitted, "Yeah, I guess it's not really all that different."

"Staying home could help." Peter added. He was pretty convinced it would be best to keep Tom at home with a nanny and he argued, "He'd get to stay home and sleep in as much as he wanted."

"I knew when I was a kid I like to stay in rather than get dropped of somewhere else," Harry offered in agreement. "Especially if you're going to be walking home with him everyday, he'd probably get annoyed quickly. It'll just become more dangerous when the paparazzi find out."

Moved, Tim sighed and said. "I'll think about it. There's someone I might be able to call and I'll see how it works out."

* * *

Tom grabbed the comforter and pulled it over his head as he shifted on his mat. This was the first time he'd had to take a second nap during daycare and he couldn't help but feel defeated. By now most all of his friends had left, their parents and nannies coming to pick them up. There were only a few more kids left and even though some new ones were coming in Tom didn't care enough to greet them. Everyone else didn't seem to be concerned, everyone was acting like this was normal, but Tom was sure this was the end of the world. He was sure Tim was upset at him for being annoying this morning and this was his punishment. Tim was abandoning him, at the very least ignoring him, and Tom was starting to get worried. He hadn't meant to be mean to Tim, he wasn't sure why he'd acted out, and he wasn't sure how long he'd last without his big brother. He liked going to daycare for a couple of hours a day, but he didn't think he'd like living here for the rest of his life. His apartment was definitely bigger with better toys and Tim gave him more attention than any of his friends.

His regular teacher had left and there was someone new that he didn't particularly like. She would come up to Tom and try to get him to feel better when all he wanted was to be left alone. It was worse when some of the new kids tried to come and investigate, they didn't seem to get the hint to go away, but Tom eventually covered his face with his comforter and stopped responding even when nap time was over.

He didn't know how much time he spent sulking on his mat, but he couldn't bring himself to get up. He might have fallen asleep again, Tom wasn't sure, but he was caught off guard when he felt someone rubbing his back again. Tom was ready to complain to whoever was annoying him, start crying and yell as much as he could.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but this is why you don't skip sleep, Tommy," Tim said laughing like there was nothing wrong. "If you're ready, we can go now."

Tom hadn't been expecting Tim to be here, especially after having made him wait so long, and he didn't know what to do. He hated Tim for abandoning him, making him wait in the daycare, but he was relieved to finally see his brother again. His emotions won out and he immediately rose from his mat and squeezed himself into Tim's chest.

"I guess this means you're ready to go," Tim said lifting them up from Tom's matt and leading them out to the front desk. "I'm sorry to bother your nap, little bro, but you can try sleeping while we walk. I'll let you sleep on my bed when we get back."

Having spent most of his nap crying and contemplating his fate, a nap sounded pretty good. Tom didn't really like Tim's shoulder, it was soft but the jacket rubbed into his cheek and it was only worse as they were walking, but it was the happiest he'd felt all day.

* * *

Tim felt sorry for his little brother, this was literally the worst day of his life, so he let him decide how the rest of their day would go. He settled Tom into his bed, working at the desk in his room to make sure Tom didn't roll of the edge and hit the floor, and let him sleep in as much as he needed. When Tom woke up after a couple of hours, Tim let him bring his toys onto the couch as they ate and watched tv. Tim would usually make Tom eat at his little table but he felt like Tom had deserved a break.

Tom sat down on the couch beside his brother and stared at the tv happy to be pampered. Usually he wanted to feed himself, but now he just watched his cartoons while his brother did all of the work. After they were done with dinner, Tom decided it would be best for them to stay on the couch. Tim put away their plate and brought some more toys for Tom to entertain himself with if Tom got bored with the tv and worked on his computer.

Tom was happy for them to do their work in silence, although he would make sure Tim turned his attention to him every couple of minutes for the sake of it, but eventually decided he was jealous of Tim's computer. At first he had assumed he was doing something boring, but when Tim chuckled at something on the screen he was concerned. He didn't want to have to compete against Tim's laptop.

Shifting closer to Tim, Tom tried to interest his brother in some of his dinosaurs. He sat them down on Tim's computer, some around his body, but Tim didn't pay too much attention to them besides a patronizing ruffling of Tom's hair.

Tom didn't want to go through all the motions of the argument they had in the morning and simply moved Tim's computer off his lap to sit down. He started whining, mumbling to himself as if he was upset, and was pleased when Tim bounced him in his arms to calm him down.

"What's wrong, Tommy? You still tired?" Tim asked softly as he moved them into Tom's room. "It's not your bedtime yet, but you can go to sleep if you want. I won't even make you take a bath since you took one this morning."

This had not been Tom's plan. He didn't want to go to bed, he just wanted Tim to pay attention to him. As soon as he was in his new crib, Tom stood up to talk to Tim. His brother was moving some things around his room, getting him a bottle and making sure the windows were covered, so Tom took the opportunity to confess his feelings. Holding himself up by the side of his crib, Tom apologized for being mean to Tim in the morning, for being difficult and hurting his feelings. He apologized for thinking Tim would abandon him and leave him behind and he promised to be nicer. He confessed that he loved Tim and wanted to stay with him forever.

Tim let him ramble on as long as he wanted and as soon as he was done leaned down to give a quick kiss to the top of his head and said, "You have a lot to say don't you?"

"Hmm," Tom mumbled in agreement. He wasn't sure if Tim was taking him seriously and he still didn't know how he'd get his brother to let him out of his crib.

Positioning Tom on his back and putting the bottle into his mouth, Tim said, "Please stay in bed, Tommy. You don't want to miss sleep two nights in a row. It just gets exponentially worse." Smiling at his brother as he tried to get into a comfortable position, Tim whispered, "Good night, little bro," and turned off the lights.

Working through his bottle and staring at his ceiling, Tom wasn't sure what to think about his day. It was definitely the worst day of his life, he couldn't remember ever being as upset as when Tim had been late, and he wasn't happy with the ending either. Right now Tim was probably laughing at his laptop again, completely forgetting about Tom because his laptop was more interesting. Tommy didn't think it was his fault, he wasn't the one who turned the living room orange, but Tim was probably still upset with him. Tom wondered if this was how the rest of his life would go, Tim being upset at him, and he knew he couldn't live like that.

Tom stood up in his new crib, leaving his bottle on the mattress, and was happy to see that it didn't look too different from his old one. There were two clamps on either side of a wall and Tom immediately got to work. It took longer than in the morning, he wasn't as used to this crib, but once again the side of the crib came down and Tom was free.

He made his way to the door only to find that it was closed. This was new, but Tom was able to find something he could stand on to open the door. He made his way around the apartment to find that Tim wasn't in the living room anymore and turned to his room.

Peeking in from the doorway, Tom found Tim on his bed back on his laptop. It had never bothered him before, but now it suddenly occured to Tom that Tim could be looking for a new brother. Tim could hate Tom for being mean in the morning and he was going to find a better brother on online. Tom couldn't help but start crying as soon as he stepped in, collapsing on the floor drawing Tim's attention to him. Worried, Tim immediately got up from his bed to check his brother and ask, "What's wrong bud? Are you okay?"

Tom decided he'd talked enough for the day and focused on clinging to Tim as closely as he could. "It's okay, Tommy. Everything's okay. You can sleep with me tonight if you want."

Tim carried him onto the bed and pulled the covers over them. Patting his hair hoping to comfort Tom, Tim asked, "What's wrong little bro? Did you have a bad dream or something?"

"No," Tom mumbled into his shoulder.

"Can you wanna tell me what happened?" Tim asked worried and confused. "If you don't want to we can just go to bed."

Tom didn't know why Tim was being so nice to him, but he decided it would be best to be honest. Pointing to the computer Tim had thrown to the side, he mumbled something indistinguishable to Tim.

"Do you not like my computer?" Tim asked confused.

No, Tommy loved the computer. Tim let him play games, watch his shows, and pick out new toys all the time. He just didn't like Tim finding a new brother.

Thinking about what his brother could mean, Tim tried, "Hmm. Do you want to play a game?"

"No!" Tom shouted getting annoyed at Tim for not figuring things out already.

"Then what's the problem, little bro?"

Tommy didn't know the right words to use, but he tried, "N-new brother."

More confused than other, Tim tried, "You think the computer is our new brother?"

"No."

"Do you think we're getting a new brother?" Tim asked running through the possibilities in his mind. "That I'm looking for a new brother online?"

"Yes," Tom said happy to finally have Tim understand.

Smiling at the idea of Tom being territorial, Tim asked, "You don't want a second brother?"

Deflating again, Tom thought for a moment before adding, "Tom gone. New brother, Tom gone."

Finally understanding Tom's concerns, Tim raised Tom to eye level and asked, "You thought I was going to replace you with a new brother I get from my laptop?"

Tom wasn't sure what some of the words meant, but he said, "Yeah," hoping Tim was close.

"I wasn't," Tim bit his lip to choose his words carefully. He didn't want to cause his brother any more worry. "I guess it's been bothering you all day, hasn't it?" Hugging him closer, Tim assured Tom, "Don't worry little guy, I'd never want to replace you. You're the most important person in my world. I couldn't replace you for anyone else. You believe me right?"

Tom gave an insincere, "Yes."

"Why did you think I would want to get rid of you?"

Unsure of what to do, Tom just lowered his head and grumbled something in a low voice.

Tim balanced Tom on one side and pulled his computer onto his lap. Typing in his password and pulling up the screen he'd been on, Tim explained, "I was talking to a friend, Tommy. I have a friend from my old school and I was just talking to him."

Tom looked down at the screen and assumed it meant Tim was telling the truth and he felt a little embarrassed for getting worried. He still hung onto his brother and was relieved when Tim squeezed him back.

Smiling at his brother's worries, Tim rocked him in his arms and said, "I love you, Tommy. There's no way I would ever replace you with someone else."

"Promise?" Tom asked wearily. He trusted that Tim was telling him the truth, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that he'd messed up.

"Yup," Tim said happily. "You're my favorite person in the world. If you asked me to I'd do anything you want."

Hoping that this meant that they could be done with the day, Tom asked, "S-sleep here?"

"You want to sleep here with me?" At Tom's excited nod, Tim helped them under the covers and prepared for sleep. He turned the lights off, turned the ac higher, and wrapped himself around his little brother. Tim could tell Tom was still afraid and he offered, "You can sleep here as long as you want. I don't mind at all."

"Please," Tom mumbled, embarrassed with how needy he felt.

"It's not like I could keep you in your crib anyway," Tim chuckled. "You'd managed to find your way out anyone."

Not in the mood for jokes, Tom used his most serious tone to say, "Love you, Tim."

"I love you too, Tommy," Tim said in return. Knowing his brother wanted a serious conclusion to his struggle, Tim added, "Please don't worry about me being upset with you. I know you're still a little kid. I'm not going to hold the stupid things you do against you. It wasn't your fault for waking up, but you should try to get enough sleep, Tommy. Your day goes a lot better when you sleep longer, but I get that you don't believe me right now. Don't worry, Tommy, it's my job to make sure you're okay, not yours. Remember, I'm the big brother; you just made it past one year old."

"Okay," Tommy mumbled, overwhelmed by his emotions. He wasn't sure what all the words meant, but he felt like he understood Tim's feelings. Tom couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed for causing Tim trouble, but he didn't think Tim minded. At the very least Tim loved him.

"Good because tomorrow is Saturday and you can sleep in as much as you want," Tim promised. He wasn't sleepy but he could tell Tom was pretty much out of energy. Kissing the top of his head again, Tim said, "Good night, Tommy."

Yawning, Tom returned a quiet, "Night, Timmy."


End file.
